Taking Action
by CrassKal
Summary: If you want the freedom to explore and discover amazing creatures, then you better prove you're capable of surviving. Three teens earn to right to explore the country freely. But now trainers are being targeted. Their way of life is being challenged, and everything seems against them. But they aren't ready to abandon the life they worked so hard for.
1. Chapter 1: Nuvema Town

*Chapter 1*

* * *

Hill hadn't felt this level of excitement since he was little on Christmas morning. Just like back then he had struggled to sleep and then woke up stupidly early. Despite his lack of rest he was full of energy as he buzzed around the room, double checking his pack and reconsidering other items. A book for reading material? Nah it would be too dark once they were done walking. A razor? His adolescent face may not require much grooming NOW, but he who knew how he could mature while on the road? He grabbed the razor and stuck it in a bundle of socks. When he ready to go he stopped at one last group of items. A pair of white leather gloves, a little roughly made but the materials were clearly top quality. They fit like a second skin and offered a number of uses. On paper they would be an obvious choice to take with him, but it wasn't logic that made him stop to think. He considered the inconspicuous white gloves. He didn't want to give that asshole any satisfaction that Hill appreciated the gift, but he reminded himself of the reality. He would be an idiot to refuse any leg up, and he wouldn't be the only one at risk out there. He swallowed his pride and tucked the gloves into a pocket.

* * *

Croux was unsurprised to find that Bea had beaten him to the meeting point. The fact that Hill was there already was more of a shock. He thought for sure the boy would at least still be saying goodbye to his mother. His mom had already been awake before he rose, worriedly buzzing around the living area. She had to shake his father into rising so he could offer his farewell. Croux cared for his parents, but his family was rarely emotional. He was amazed that they even agreed to let him go on an adventure, after what happened with his brother, but they likely knew that he would be going regardless of their consent. Bea was far more timid than him and even she had snuck out to escape her controlling father. That was the reason for their early meeting time, as well as why he knew she would be the first one here. Thankfully the professor had agreed to meet them.

"Croux!" Hill greeted energetically as the somber boy approached. Bea flinched at the loud sound and Croux gave him a severe glare. "Don't forget what time it is, jackass" he hissed at his friend "you could ruin all of our planning if you wake up the neighborhood." Hill winced at the admonishment and offered a subdued apology. Croux snorted and said "Let's just hurry and get to the professor's," and started off at a quick pace. The other two teens shared a quick glance before hurrying to keep up.

"Sorry. I'm just excited!" Hill said in a volume barely below regular speech. "We're keeping to what we agreed on before, right?" he questioned in a tone that said he would argue if they changed their minds. "Yes, yes" Croux said, "We are sticking to the plan on who gets what pokémon. Right Bea?" He asked this not because he thought she would disagree, but to distract her from her obvious nervousness.

"R-right," she answered sedately. But she did smile slightly as the thought of her first pokémon. "I hope the professor is ready for us".

"She should be. She agreed to the meeting time." Croux said confidently.

"Yeah, but she isn't the best organized person," Hill offered with a hint of concern.

"We'll just have to see."

Their hopes rose as they approached the building and could see that lights were on. Their excitement grew and they all jogged the remainder of the distance to the front door. Croux made a series of clear sharp knocks on the front door. They waited only for no response to come. Croux raised his hand to knock again when Hill pushed forward and heavily banged on the door. Croux glared at the lack tact but it only made Hill grin. The door opened to show a haphazard mess that was typical for the Unovan lab.

"Ah, hello there" the clearly flustered aide greeted. "I was told to expect you. Come in, come in, please"

The three entered and looked around the lab. There stacks of papers that rose high enough that their toppling over was less a question of 'if' than it was 'when'. The number of sticky note reminders were so excessive that the only memento they offered was the necessity to clean them. A minccino was chasing an emolga who was clutching half a mushy apple in its mouth. And, most oddly, a throh was in the corner tossing such fruit to smash against a wall with a messy target painted on it. The teens were less concerned with all of the chaos present and focused more on what was missing from the scene.

"Where's the professor?" Hill asked the aide.

"Sleeping, I would guess." He answered with obvious frustration. "She told me to arrive early to welcome you."

'That makes sense' all three thought in unison while rolling their eyes.

"As you can see there are other tasks that require my attention" the aide continued, "so follow me and we can get this done quickly."

He led them into a back room where the insanity more subdued. More, not entirely. There were three pokémon in the small room. The oshawott and tepig seemed to be fighting, or at least the water-type was trying to fight while the plump piglet rested its superior weight on top of it. The snivy, meanwhile, had climbed a water pipe along the wall and was tossing chunks of plaster from the wall at the dueling pair. The tepig ignored the projectiles while continuing to pin its opponent to the ground. The oshawott was literally foaming at the mouth in its attempts to escape.

"Oh, god" the aide sighed , "Missy must have released from their balls" referring to the professor's favored Minccino.

Wordlessly, both boys walked to the fighting duo and grabbed one each. Hill picked up the chubby pig and smiled down at it. Croux was quick to snatch the enraged otter before it could launch itself at its adversary. He hugged it to his chest pinning down its flailing limbs. Bea approached the green snake and met its eyes from its vantage point. With some words and a gesture she coaxed it down to her and lifted it into her arms. Instead it scrambled up her torso to drape itself across the girl's shoulders. She caressed the smooth skin of its head while flashing a thrilled smile.

"Huh. Well I guess that works." The aide murmured. "Let me get their pokeballs for you so you can register them to you."

With the balls in hand they returned their pokémon and attached them to the previously acquired pokedexs. When they got the part where they supply a name Croux instantly typed in a name he had decided on long ago. Bea considered it for a while before entering in a name. Hill considered the screen and thought. He looked around the lab for any ideas before smiling and typing in the name for his first pokémon.

"Memo?" Croux asked incredulously while looking over his friends shoulder. "You're naming it after a business term?"

"Him" Hill corrected. "And yes, I am. Because I want to always remember this moment" he said with a goofy grin.

Croux gave him a grimace. He opened his mouth to say something, only to close it and just shake his head.

Hill released his pokémon and again scooped it up into his arms. The little creature settled comfortable into the crook of his arm. "You're supposed to leave them in the ball for a while so that the programming can instill their name" the aide explained. "Nonsense," scoffed Hill, "Pokemon aren't that dumb." He shifted the piglet in his arms so that he was holding him with both hands. He lifted it close to his face and spoke, "Your name is Memo. That's what I'm going to call you. Memo, understand?" The pokémon gave no reaction that indicated he did, but apparently Hill was satisfied. He tucked Memo back into his elbow and gently petted his head with his other hand.

Croux looked ready to say something about the foolish behavior, but Bea cut him off, "that's sweet". Croux gave her an exasperated look, but she didn't waver. "It's like bonding" she said, "It's what new parents are supposed to do with their babies." "These aren't our babies, Bea" Croux criticized. "Aren't they?" she said. "They're a young, intelligent, creature who we will be forming a lifelong bond with. I think it's good to establish care early on" she commented while releasing her own pokémon and returning it to its perch on her shoulders. Croux snorted in derision and pointedly clipped his pokeball to his belt. He began to walk to the door leaving his friends to follow. Hill and Bea looked at each other again, only for Hill to shrug and follow silently. Bea quickly thanked the aide and rushed to catch up.

* * *

The three teens approached the route out of town together. They stopped for one last look at the hometown before leaving. The sun was just beginning to crest in the distance and lights in homes shone as people began to rise. Hill hesitated the longest, thinking hard about his mom and wishing he could go see her one last time before leaving. He thought about her face lighting up in joy when he introduced Memo and his eyes grew moist. Hill was the only person his mom had. She would be all alone without him…

"Hill" came a gentle voice. He turned to look at his friends. Bea was the speaker and she looked at him with sympathy plain on her face. Even Croux was respectfully somber rather than his usual stoicism. He looked at them and felt the warm weight in his arm. He took a deep breath and hardened his resolve. He turned swiftly away from the houses and started down the road.

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* * *

*Pokedex Entries*

*Snivy – These young reptilians lack the deadly venom of their cousins and have yet to grow enough to constrict their prey. They are highly dependent upon their parent or handler for food until they mature. Despite this dependence, their behavior is infamously detached. *

*Tepig- This pokemon has a larger 'internal furnace' than other fire types of its size. Their diet is generally nonspecific; their main interest being storing flammable materials in their body. Following an intense battle their fat stores can be completely depleted, leaving them thin and wildly hungry. *

*Oshawott – Despite their cuddly appearance these pokemon are highly combative. The scalchops that grow from their bodies are composed of keratin with layers of enamel. They tend to gnaw on these shells in order to sharpen the edge.*

* * *

~Edited somewhat at the advice of St. Elmo's Fire. Croux is pronounced "Crew" for those unsure, and it is his last name. My first time publishing a story so I'll admit my writing might be messy. I'm open to criticism, as long it is informative, so please leave reviews and any suggestions. Thanks for reading.~


	2. Chapter 2: Route 1

*Chapter 2*

* * *

Route 1 was comprised of a large cleared pathway between Nuvema town and Accumula. The wild pokémon weren't much of a threat, even for unaccompanied citizens. They walked along it quietly, unsure what to say. Hill was the first the break the silence, "I'm going to go this way" he say while pointing to the right side of the path. "What?" Bea said in shock. "Listen," Hill started ,"We are going to be traveling with each other for a while, and I want to take some time alone to get to know my pokémon. Route 1 is about as safe as it will get, so I'm going to take the opportunity." "He has a point" Croux interjected before Bea could protest, "The wildlife isn't any risk, it's near impossible to get lost, and we'll all be going to the same place." "But-" Bea began. "You said yourself that we should bond with our pokémon," Croux interjected "It will be fine. I'll take the side with the river on it. Bea, you can stick to the road. Okay?" She found it hard to argue their points, but she didn't want to consent either, so she remained silent. "Great" Hill said with a grin "See you guys in Accumula" he called as he ran towards the trees along the road. Bea felt a pat on her upper arm and before she could turn around Croux was already heading towards the opposite side. She gently rubbed the snivy on her shoulders and looked ahead towards the tall buildings in the distance. She just knew that her life couldn't be simple.

* * *

Hill crunched through the dead leaves while looking up at the canopy of trees overhead. Fresh buds sprouted along the branches signifying the beginning of spring. Hill gently set down the piglet among the brush and met its eyes.

"Let's see what you can do, Memo" he said while remaining crouched down. He offered up his right palm facing directly towards the pokémon and said, "Okay, use tackle against my hand." Memo didn't hesitate at all and launched its body full force to collide with the fleshy target. Hill grunted in surprise as the impact, expecting no more force than an average punch. The difference wasn't much, but enough that he was impressed by his little partner. He smiled, "Very nice. Okay, let's see how your fire is." He petted the pokémon's head affectionately with one hand while using his other to gather together a pile of dry leaves off the ground. "Alright, Memo, use ember on the pile" he commanded with a point. Memo pulverized the heap with a tackle. "No, no, Memo. Fire. Use fire." Hill clarified, but Memo only offered him a bemused look.

Hill thought for a second before making a decision. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out the white gloves that he had struggled with bringing along. He pulled each glove on and made a tight fist to listen to the creaking of the leather as it stretched. "Like this, Memo" he said, and focused his will. He imagined the heat generated by his body, his core radiating energy to spread to his limbs. He envisioned pushing all of the heat in his body towards his fingertips, and then releasing that heat. Both gloves burst into flames that danced along his fingers. Memo stared transfixed at the site in clear awe.

"Find the heat inside your body" Hill instructed, "and then push it to leave," Hill coached while watching the flames somberly. He remembered his father teaching him the same lesson when he first gifted him the gloves. "The power is already inside you" he explained, "It's up to you to control it, Memo. Just like when you tell a muscle to move." He shook his hands and killed both fires in an instance. He compelled himself to smile at the enamored pokémon, "Your turn."

Memo took in a deep breath and held it. He tried to follow his trainer's advice and searched for the power within himself. He found a source of roiling energy in his torso and worked to take hold of it. He strained his chest to try and expel it outwards and could feel it moving upwards to his mouth. The energy quickly rose and he opened his mouth to release it! And a billow of noxious smoke escaped his throat. Hill coughed and rapidly retreated from the cloud and collapsed to his knees. Memo felt terrible, he had failed AND managed to hurt his trainer. He wandered over to the gagging human snuffling quietly, unable to bring his head up and look at him. Hill fought to regain his breath and wiped the tears from his eyes. He looked at his dejected pokémon and showed him a gentle smile. "It's okay, Memo. You did exactly what I told you to do. I'm okay, see?" he reassured by lifting the little creature and cradling it to his chest.

While comforting his pokémon Hill considered that strange smoke. 'That was way more noxious than regular smoke' he thought to himself. Curious, he drew his pokedex from his pack and scanned his starter. He looked through the information and couldn't stop to bark of laughter. He explained to the startled tepig "That was a smog attack, Memo! It wasn't fire but actually a poison attack! You just expelled the wrong kind of power" he gasped out in his laughter. Memo didn't quite understand, but was thrilled at his trainer's happiness. Hill vigorously rubbed his pokémon in congratulations before standing up.

Hill wiped away tears for the second time in five minutes. Dusting himself off he was about to collect his bag when a flash of blue caught his eye. He looked up to see a large ripe Oran berry growing from a tree near the drop in the cliff. "Hey, look at that" he enthused, "That looks like a nice treat, eh?" he asked looking at Memo. Memo squeaked excitedly at the offer of a treat and playfully pushed his trainer towards the tree. Chuckling, Hill approached the tree in question. He reached for the fruit but it was just outside of his grasp. Glancing at his enthused friend, Hill steeled himself and leapt into the branches of the tree. He pulled himself up and straddled one of the limbs and reached for the plump berry. He plucked the treat and checked it over for any rotten sections or opportunistic insects. Satisfied, he shifted his weight to prepare his descent, when he felt something else shift. Pausing he looked around for a source of the disturbance. He felt another shift but this time he also HEARD something move. Turning to the source of the sound he saw the ground collapse from under his tree. He dropped his prize to wrap himself around the trunk but it didn't stop him from going over the cliff.

It wasn't a straight drop to the ground. In fact, the sharp incline could've been climbed unaided if someone wanted to. But the angle of the ground and Hill's momentum were both enough to send him tumbling down the hill. Thankfully the heavier tree rolled past him saving him from that hazard, but he continued to swiftly spin downwards bouncing along the ground painfully. Hill wrapped his arms over his head and set his legs straight, intent on letting his momentum die rather than attempting a sudden stop. He continued like this for what felt like far too long when suddenly the movement stopped. Hill crashed into a jutting slab of stone buried deep into the hillside. The only thing that stopped his scream was the lack of air that had been forced from his lungs by the impact. His mind only registered the overbearing pain before it succumbed to blackness.

* * *

Croux walked along the grass bordering the simple brook. His oshawott was swimming through it gently, keeping pace with the human. Croux kept his hand wrapped around the pokeball and made sure the pokémon remained within his line of site. The furry creature had tried to escape twice, already, only stopping once it realized that Croux would recall him before he got too far. Croux did it for the pokémon's sake as well, knowing that the wild Basculin would tear the otter apart if he entered their territory. The bonding wasn't going well, but at least they were tolerating each other. Deciding enough was enough, Croux stopped walking. The oshawott continued its pace before suddenly jetting forward trying to catch the trainer off-guard. Croux was prepared and returned the pokémon to its ball casually. He didn't release it again right away, instead preparing himself. He shrugged his backpack off, settling it in the shade. He checked that his shoes were properly tied and some quick stretches. And finally, he removed a six inch long combat knife from a sheath strapped to his calf. He ran through a series of practice swings and strikes before deciding he was ready. He called the pokémon out ten feet from where he stood. The fluffy pokémon puffed itself up in anger as it faced him, hissing out a snarl that produced foamy froth around his mouth. It paused when it noticed the human's stance and the obvious weapon he held out in front of him.

"We are going to stop the needless bickering and settle this" Croux started, "if you can beat me in a battle then I will release you. But if I win, you stop trying to run." He stated this plainly, not leaving it open for the pokémon to object. The oshawott drew the scallop shaped blade from its abdomen and eyed the trainer. Several seconds passed without anything happening when suddenly the water pokémon through its weapon at Croux face! The human reacted by pulling his own blade in front of him with the broad end facing out, deflecting the small projectile. But when he dropped his hand out of his line of sight he saw a large bubble rushing towards him! The bubble collided with his forearms and popped with an explosive sound. Croux was thrown back by the concussive force and landed heavily on his back. His only warning was a savage cry as the pokémon leapt at his prone form, scalchop in hand. Croux rolled to the side, dodging the plunge, but as he rose to his feet the furry creature swiped its weapon across his right leg drawing a deep gash through the muscle. Croux gritted his teeth and managed to stay standing and he danced backwards, creating distance. oshawott threw its tool again, but this time Croux ducked the threat and rushed forward with his knife pointed at his opponent. As the gap between them decreased the water-type took in a rapid breath and released another bubble at its attacker. The bubble collided with the human's chest stopping the momentum of his charge, but not enough to prevent him from slicing into the otter's side.

Croux was pushed back by the bubble's explosion and couldn't help rubbing the tender area of impact on his torso. 'That's going to be a hell of a bruise' he thought to himself as he caught his breath. The oshawott was also inspecting its wound, and it turned to snarl at the one who caused it. Suddenly the creature rushed towards Croux on all fours, catching him off guard. He put one foot back and braced his feet, only for the little beast to run between his legs and past him. Croux spun around, half expecting the pokémon to try and run away again, only to see it scamper up a tree. His curiosity was quickly answered when he saw it wrench the scalchop from where it was buried in the wood. The oshawott looked at him and took in a deep breath. It sent out a series of large bubbles towards the teenager. With the distance between them the bubbles moved slowly and Croux knew he could easily dodge them. When he stepped to the side outside of their path he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. The yellow shell had been plunged deep into his flesh, hitting the bone and causing a torrent of blood to poor out. Croux set his jaw and reached into the gushing injury. He knew that if he left it the bladed weapon would only cause more damage as he used the arm. He plucked the tool out and held it up with a cry of exaltation, only for its owner to leap from the tree and sink its teeth into his extended appendage. With more anger than pain driving him, Croux hammered the little creature into his own thigh, pounding it into releasing him from the bite. It did so and sailed across the clearing, taking the scalchop with it.

Exhaustion and blood loss were starting to take their toll on Croux. The water-type was also showing fatigue after its beating. In a desperate final attempt Croux ran at the pokémon. Hallway across the gap he planted one foot and did a fluid spin to move over slightly to the right, dodging the flung scalchop that he had anticipated more than saw coming. He kept moving towards the creature repeating his spinning maneuver when he saw it take a deep breath. He closed the distance having evaded both shell and bubbles and drew up on the otter creature. Rather than using his knife, Croux put all the momentum of his dash into a simple punt. The oshawott flew across the glade and crashed heavily with a tree on the opposite side. It slumped to the ground and didn't rise again. Croux approached it slowly and it opened its weary eyes to look up at him. He made a point of flashing his knife at the beast, showing that he could end things if need be, then turned and collapsed against the tree alongside the pokémon. 'HIS pokémon' he corrected mentally. They sat quietly, making no movements, when Croux lifted one hand placed on top of the oshawott's head. It did nothing to resist him, only met his eye. They looked at one another for a moment, when Croux broke the silence "Your name is Winston".

* * *

Bea was silently furious with her two friends leaving her to wander alone. Sure, it was early in the morning, and, the pokémon on this route weren't very dangerous, but they were supposed to travel as a group. They might go unnoticed on their remote paths, but how will she explain things if she were caught? 'Sorry officer, I know minor's can't travel alone, but my friends wanted some alone time with their pokémon?' Pft, ridiculous.

She tried not to think about her real concern. The worst case scenario with the police would be a fine, but what truly upset her were the rookie hunters. Thugs and crooks that target inexperienced trainers to steal all their belongings. Bea could defend herself to a degree, but she was the ranged attacker among the group. Without Hill and Croux to fight them she wouldn't be able to get more than one or two shots off. As she walked she clutched her bow harshly and kept running her fingers through the quiver at her hip. 'Fifteen' she counted. It seemed like such a large number before leaving, but now it felt laughably inadequate. She resolved herself to carved some more tonight, no matter how tired she was-

"Arf!"

Bea froze at the sound. She felt Ellie around her neck wake up and stiffen as well. Both the girl and her snivy stood absolutely still and opened their senses for any other signs. A sharp cry sounded from farther up the road around a bend. She counted through her arrows again, and tightened her grip on her bow even more, then started forward. She slowly approached where she thought she had heard the sound, her left hand tentatively hovering over the open quiver. She rounded the corner and witnessed her first horror of life outside of the cities. Four young men, somewhere between their late teens and early twenties, were grouped together barely holding back laughter. Their crazed grins were focused on a single sight, a lillipup standing protectively over another. The one on the ground was clearly about to die, if not already dead. The poor creature looked as if it had been hit by a car, but this road didn't allow vehicles, and the group's shoes had bits of gore on them...

The healthy pup put up a brave face against the culprits, but they all knew it wasn't a threat to them. Bea could see how the others looked to one person before they acted, so she identified him as the leader. He was several inches below average height, and his width had no change from his shoulders down to his knees. Some might describe him as fat, but Bea thought of him as solid. She cursed her friends for leaving her alone once again, and then she drew three arrows from her quiver. There was never a question of ignoring the scene, her insecurity melting away in as she saw the scene before her. With a slight shrug Ellie crawled from her shoulders and slithered down to the ground. Bea readied one shot, keeping the other two arrows in her hand for quick reloading, and fired.

Unova wasn't as free with their trainer licenses as other countries. They once followed the league standards, but after too many dead adolescents they had generated their own laws. Fifteen was the minimum age to travel, and even then only if accompanied by other trainers. You also had to display levels of survival and combative skills to be accepted. When choosing her weapon, Bea didn't require much thought. She picked the bow because it reminded her of her father. Not the man her mother married to now, but the one that had been a trainer himself once. Her childhood was filled with camping trips were he taught her the basics of all that he knew. Wood carving, tracking, traps, cooking, and other important skills that she loved learning about. Among all his lessons there was one that he insisted on the vital importance of, when to act.

The arrow flew straight through the air, it's stone tip spinning it gently towards its target. It didn't pierce the leaders flesh or puncture a vital organ; instead it drew a thick cut across the skin above his single eyebrow. The gash it opened was superficial, but messy. Before he could even register the pain his vision was coated in curtain of blood. He screamed in terror and grasped at his face. Distracted by his cries of going blind, none of the others noticed the green tendrils wrapping around the tiny dog and yanking it away.

Bea bit down on the two extra arrows she had drawn, deciding that she didn't need them right now. With her free hand she hefted the two pokémon with her and turned to run. She wasn't two steps away before she could hear the others yelling at her back. She continued running even as their footsteps became clear behind her. She looked at the distant buildings that were her goal and tried to forget all else. As hard as she ran, it was inevitable that they would catch her. She was still carrying all of her travel supplies, as well as the pokémon. Her snivy had scaled its way to rest atop her backpack, dragging the uncooperative lillipup with it, so Bea's hands carried only her bow. She heard a cry and a sharp crack in the air as her pokémon snapped its whips at their pursuers and Bea knew that they were almost upon her. She grabbed the arrows from her mouth, hoping the teeth indents wouldn't ruin their balance, and took a deep breath.

The teenage girl crouched down and spun on the ball of her left foot. By the time she was facing her attackers she had drawn the string back and readied an arrow. She took a fraction of a second to aim and fired at the shoulder of her nearest attacker. The projectile flew only to graze his flesh and continue sailing into the air never to be seen again. The man cried out and fell to the ground in his haste to retreat. The other man looked towards his comrade long enough to give her time to load the other arrow, but she only held it drawn back. Both men stopped and watched her slowly, puffing heavily to catch their breaths. Within a few seconds the heavy plodding of footsteps could be heard as their leader jogged up, followed by the last member of the quartet. A soaked bandana was wrapped tightly around his forehead, containing his gushing wound. His face was still a horror to be seen, the splatter of blood only broken up by rivulets of sweat streaming through the gore. As he approached he slowed to stop and also watched the young girl aiming towards him.

No words were said as they all let their breathing even out. When that was done the leader was the first to speak up.

"You're fucking dead, y'know?" was all he said.

Bea quirked an eyebrow and stared at him icily, "I'm not the one with an arrow aimed at their face."

He laughed, "HA! You've barely hit us so far. You think you can you can kill with that little stick?"

She didn't shake her head, keeping her gaze on him steady. "I aimed to wound, before. Now, I will kill you."

His bravado died slightly as he noticed her lack of response, "Hmph, you can't keep your arm drawn like forever" he said with a malicious grin.

"You're right" she allowed, "So I'll just fire it before my arm gets tired."

"And what? Kill me? There are still three others to take you down!"

"And you" she replied coolly, "Will still be dead."

They all stood silently, no one daring to move. Bea kept her cool demeanor, but her arm was beginning to ache. She didn't know how much longer she could keep this up. He was right; even if she did kill him she couldn't stop the others. The hopelessness of her situation turned to apathy and she was nearing the point of ending it. 'At least I took out one' she thought as her fingers began to loosen. 'Wait? What's that sound?' her thoughts halted her release as she reinforced her grip on the arrow. The others could hear it too. Sirens, coming closer. The leader's blood stained face managed to flash pale as the sound registered. Police were coming, somehow, and he knew there was no winning anymore.

"You got damn lucky," was all he growled as the group fled the scene.

She held the position even after they left, until she couldn't see them anymore, and even a little longer after that. The muscles of her arms screamed at her as she let them relax. The sirens continued to grow close, so she stood in preparation for their questions. She could only hope that they didn't drag her back home. She would never be able to sneak out twice. The noise intensified and soon she could see the flashing colors of their approach, but it wasn't a police vehicle. Bea scrambled to the side of the road so as the let the fire engines roar by. As they did she noticed for the first time the clouds of smoke rising in the distance. Where Hill had gone…

"FUCK!" she screamed.


	3. Chapter 3: Accumula Town Pt 1

*Chapter 3*

* * *

Bea was unsure what to be angrier about. After arriving at Accumula she had learned that a forest fire had started in the woods, the source being placed on a young Tepig found at the scene. When fire workers had found him, Memo had led them to its trainer. A rescue chopper was called for and the young man was hoisted free. Hill had broken half the ribs on his right side, bruised a lung in several places, and a partially collapsed lung. Bea was only privy to this information because of his mother, who had to be fetched from Nuvema by her own ambulance when she had fainted upon hearing the news. While Bea was panicking outside the hospital, unable to contact her friends, Croux had limped up to her looking like he had been attacked by a lawn mower. Bea was left alone with both of her friends receiving medical attention. What's more, she couldn't report her incident with the thugs. There was no way in hell that was she going to attract even MORE attention to the three of them.

Her only distraction was her pokémon. The Lillipup had quickly grown attached to her after the escape, so it only made sense to keep him. She watched Sam and Ellie playing with each other. Sam was trying to catch the lithe snake pokémon and Ellie was enjoying herself slithering around him, dodging all of his attempts to nip her.

"Agg?" came a voice right next to her. Bea couldn't hide the jump of shock caused by the sudden noise. She had spaced out watching the spectacle and failed to notice the approaching woman.

"I'm sorry?" she said while looking at the woman. "Agg?" the lady repeated, and proffered a box towards Bea, showing it contained several large eggs lying on a towel. "Buy agg?" asked the woman again, her thick accent making the words practically unintelligible.

"Oh, no thank you" Bea attempted to refuse. "Buy agg? Hun ned pokee" the woman repeated again while gesturing the box towards her.

"N-no, I-"

"Agg?"

"I don't-"

"Hun ned pokee. Buy agg?" the woman kept pressing.

Bea fought the scowl that wanted to escape. She tried to tell herself that the saleswoman was more naive that simply rude. She thought over the offer. 100 isn't exceptionally high, she could spend just as much getting a bag of chips from the vending machine. She decided the price was worth it just to end this exchange. She fished her purse from her pack and found the appropriate change. The woman accepted the money and placed a single egg in Bea's open palm, before walking away to likely harass others.

The egg was much heavier than Bea expected, and she nearly dropped the thing when its weight settled in her hand. Grasping it closely she noticed the warmth that spread from the small container. She was endlessly curious as what she had just bought, but another voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Bea!" yelled Croux as he entered the cafeteria where she was sitting. He approached her table and immediately noticed the egg.

"Where'd you get that?" he asked, puzzled.

"Nope." She said deftly, while pulling a shirt out of her bag to wrap up the egg. "After our last conversation you do not get to be the first ask questions" she said sourly.

Croux winced when he recalled their meeting earlier. His wounds had stopped bleeding, but he still looked horrifying as he exited the forest. "Yeah…" he drawled as he slid into a chair. "Sorry about that," was all he could say with a pathetic attempt at a sheepish grin.

Bea continued to stare at him unfazed. "What happened?"

"I got attacked by a pawniard" he lamely lied.

"A Pawniard?" she said in a tone dripping with skepticism.

"Yeah. I know that aren't native to this area-"

"Or anywhere even remotely close to Nuvema" she interjected.

"Right, but, um-" he flustered. 'Damn why is so hard to lie to her' he desperately thought. "I think a trainer must've released it there."

Her cool face showed no sign of believing him. "You really did it, didn't you?" she questioned pointedly.

Croux was honestly confused by the question. "What do you mean?" he said, dropping the pretense of lying.

"You battled against your pokémon," she hissed heatedly. "Don't lie to me, Croux. Hill told me that was your plan!"

Croux couldn't hide the mix of shock and shame on his face. Not from her. "Damn it…" he muttered.

"And don't be mad at him for telling me," she continued "at least he can be honest!" She was a little surprised by how angry she was, but it was too late to reign in her feelings.

"If they suspect such a thing you can be barred from training, Croux" she spat mutedly, "trainer abuse is a huge red flag. You could be labeled a criminal on your first day of traveling!"

Croux hardened his expression, "It wasn't abuse" he defended, "No permanent damage was done, I didn't torture him, and it strengthened my relationship with Winston."

Bea's hard stare didn't waver, "I hope that's true, Croux, I really do" she said as she settled back into her chair.

Croux sighed in relief, thinking the tense conversation had ended "Well-"

"But," She spoke up with the same level of intensity, "You do not do this again. I don't care what reason you give, I better not see you trying to fight every pokémon you train."

Croux looked ready to argue, but Bea dropped her trump card before he could. "I almost died today, Croux." His defensive posture immediately collapsed. He couldn't speak, only look at her confused. "I almost died. I would have if sirens hadn't scared the men off. I was alone, and it was practically the end for me. I need you, both of you, there. If you get yourself banned from training you aren't just ruining your own future." Her eyes grew moist as she looked at him, the stress finally hitting her. "Please."

Croux stood from his chair and rounded the table to sit by her. He hugged her and let her cry onto his shoulder. He didn't say anything, he didn't need to. He wouldn't leave her. His actions would prove that, not his words. So he didn't say anything. They sat together while he let her cry, people turned away from the scene awkwardly. A person crying in the hospital cafeteria wasn't anything new.

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*Pokedex Entries*

*Lillipup – Its long fur actually acts as a delicate sensory device. It can sense and react to shifts in the wind as well as catch scents for easy reference. When they form a bond they become fiercely loyal. *


	4. Chapter 4: Accumula Town Pt 2

*Chapter 4*

* * *

"Well Mr. Black, it is my duty to inform you that you are due to be released, to my staff's great pleasure," the doctor said dryly.

Hill didn't bother hiding the smirk. He was well aware of how his antics had annoyed the nurses and aides. In his defense, it was difficult to be on bed rest after only just starting his adventure. And he hadn't intentionally done harm, it just turns out that a hospital room is not the place to try and train your pokémon. He had put out the fire himself, and tried to fix the IV pump, but the staff was still sour at him.

"I'll write you a prescription for a minor analgesic, since you insist to continue traveling," the doctor continued, pointedly not looking at Hill. "You can keep the incentive spirometer we already gave you," he gestured his pen at the device on Hill's table. 'That's going to be a pain to pack,' Hill thought with a grimace. "Try to use it several times a day, to avoid developing pneumonia. I have already planned a follow up appointment for you with a colleague in Nacrene. The nurse will give you all that information. Your ribs are still fractured, so refrain from doing anymore damage to them. And that should be it," he finished before quickly exiting the room.

* * *

"That was weird," Hill commented as the speech ended. "It's idiotic," Croux added harshly, "training pokemon has become a staple of human civilization. Telling us to stop is like trying to turn the whole world vegetarian." "Do they even know their history?" Bea threw in, "The days before when only a handful of people managed to tame pokémon? They want us to go back to fighting the wildlife ourselves!"

While his friends continued their exchange of points Hill looked at the crowd. Some shared their consternation, laughing at the idea. Others looked more contemplative. And there was one who looked down right pissed. Except, his anger seemed to be aimed at Hill's group. He was maybe 17 years old, and had the long lanky look of someone who grew tall rapidly and the rest of his body was still catching up. His long green hair spilled out from under his hat like half-dead moss. He noticed Hill looking at him and their eyes met for a second before the older teen stomped towards the trio.

"Selfish beasts!" he practically screeched when he grew close. Croux and Bea ceased their discussion and looked at their accuser. "You think of only human benefit! You speak of pokémon as tools for your use!" he continued to scream. The three teens stood uncertainly, surprised by the intensity of the verbal assault. "You mistreat and abuse what should be your equals!"

"Whoa, hey, who are you calling us abusers?" Hill countered, unaware of the uncertainty his companions showed behind him. "We have only been trainers for a few days. None of us have even battled yet!" Hill defended, "We treat our pokémon well, and they're our friends."

The lanky boy thrust an accusatory finger towards him, "You suppose you can speak for them? That your idealizations are their own? HA! It would pleasure me to see you support your convictions." Hill looked at him confused, the guy's flowery way of talking hard to decipher. "Release him," the teen said with a point towards Memo's pokeball, "see how much a kinship you have when he has the alternative."

Hill looked solemnly at the other boy. Wordlessly he released Memo to materialize on the ground. The tepig looked around bemused at the tense situation. Hill crouched low and rested his good hand on the pokemon's head, "I'm going to release you, Memo. If you want to go free, you may." The blatant gasps that came from his friends did well to convey their surprise, but none looked as astonished Memo. The piglet looked at Hill with clear pain, shocked to the point of inaction. Hill fiddled with his pokedex, scanning both the ball and the pokémon. The green-haired youth watched with a smile that bordered on insanity. Finished, Hill put the dex into his back pocket and looked at Memo. A few seconds of poignant silence passed.

"Hey. Look at that," Hill said with a grin, "a wild tepig. I wonder if I can catch him."

Croux and Bea released their held breathes in mutual groans of annoyance. The older boy's revelry returned to his previous furiosity.

Hill expanded the previously occupied pokeball and again crouched towards the fire pig pokémon. "Do you want to come with me?" he asked gently. Memo flung himself at the trainer with all the power his stubby legs could produce. The leap was far from impressive, but it's meaning clear. Hill caught his pokémon with his good arm and cradled him to his chest. He pressed the ball against Memo's flank and the tepig turned into red energy before being called inside. There wasn't a single shake before the ball gave an audible click signifying the successful capture. Hill quickly called his partner back out and the two exchanged affectionate emotions.

"FALSEHOODS!" the mossy haired boy shrieked. "YOU CANNOT FOOL ME WITH YOUR CHICANERY!" His previously pale face was now more colorful than his hair. Red-faced and swelling with anger he childishly stamped his foot and cried, "COMBAT! NOW! I SHAN'T FORGIVE THIS SLIGHT!"

"Wait? You mean you have pokémon?" Hill asked, "Then why are you judging us?"

" _ATTACK_!" was the only response before a purrloin appeared and quickly dashed towards Hill. Before he could react the kitten was tackled in the side by Memo's bulk. The piglet placed himself between the clawed pokémon and his trainer. He snorted out twin plumes of flame from his nostrils and braced himself for a fight.

All levity gone, Hill looked at his enemy seriously, assessing the danger that was present. Without Memo's intrusion that purrloin would have attacked him, and even a weaker pokémon could still sever arteries. This bastard had practically tried to kill him. If he wanted a battle, then he would get it.

Hill shrugged his right arm out of the sling at rotated the stiff shoulder. He gritted his teeth as his side ached at the movement, but continued to stretch the limb. Keeping both attackers in his field of vision, he pulled the gloves out from his pocket and slipped them on. He clenched his fists to feel the familiar tension of the leather. He then started to imagine all the hardness in body moving to those fists.

"Memo, use smog then defense curl," Hill called. Another move the duo had practiced in the hospital, his pokémon could now call up the noxious element at will. A purulent cloud of smoke exited the pig's nose and slowly dispersed to create a thick fog. While continuing the stream of gas, Memo worked to curl his body inward, protecting his sensitive parts with his robust mass.

"Pursuit!" came a voice, invisible in the growing miasma. Hill saw a thin form sprint from the fog the slash at Memo's side before retreating back into the haze. His pokémon grunted in pain, but the attack was superficial.

"Odor sleuth," Hill told Memo. With a couple deep sniffs, including one to his bleeding flank, Memo got a trace of his enemy. The scent now present, he could pinpoint the purrloin's location even in the smog.

Responding to some unspoken command the purrloin again rushed towards Memo, but this time he knew where it was coming from. Facing the direction of the attack he released a peal of flame towards the oncoming cat. The creature attempted a hasty retreat, losing all of its momentum and ceasing the attack. It wasn't enough as the flame caught its target and the purrloin yowled in pain. Pressing his advantage, Memo ran forward and slammed all of his considerable weight into his opponent. The cat flew several feet before harshly bouncing several times along the concrete, not to rise again.

While the pokémon had this exchange, Hill rounded the battlefield using the smog as coverage. This put him directly beside the thin teenager when the purrloin failed to continue fighting. Focused entirely on the fight, the other boy never noticed the incoming blow. A fist encased in layers of what seemed like stone drove itself into his abdomen, wrenching upward and a forcing all the air from his lungs. Hill barely contained his own scream of pain as he pulled back his bad arm. He still managed to follow through with a left swing directly into his cheek.

The older boy was knocked to the ground fighting to catch his breath. The cloud of smog finally cleared so that all could look at the downed teen. Hill uncurled his fists, letting the rough coating flake away, and eased his poor arm back into the sling. He watched the guy he had just brutally attacked, who had recovered his air but was now moaning over his injuries.

"Let's get something clear," Hill started, "I don't know what your deal is, but I'm not going to take threats easily."

He stepped closer and leaned down to the teary-eyed teenager. "You were the one that made things serious. If you can't handle other's opinions then maybe you should know better than to pick fights."

The green-haired youth gave Hill an intense look of hatred while holding his rapidly swelling jaw. He grabbed his knocked loose hat and scrambled to his feet. Hill stepped back and settled his footing, prepared for another attack, but the boy only ran away towards the Accumula town exit.

The three friends watched the strange fellow run away. Hill solemnly shook his head and said, "Let's get Memo to the pokecenter." He then noticed the abandoned purrloin lying unconscious where it had landed, "and I guess this one too."

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*Pokedex Entries*

*Purrloin – live among 'prides' of purrloin headed by one or two liepard. The young hunt for food and shiny objects to bring to their leader. The one who brings the worst offering runs the risk of being harmed. *


	5. Chapter 5: Striaton Town

*Chapter 5*

* * *

"So… each one of you received a pokémon from Juniper?" asked the gym leader wryly. The blue haired trainer looked at his brothers and all three shared an unspoken agreement.

"Uh… yeah?" answered a tentative Hill. These leaders were unsettling, and the way they eyed his group like a meal didn't help to comfort them.

The leader's grins grew broader and the red haired brother spoke up now, "Then we want to offer you a unique opportunity." He held up three fingers to punctuate his speech, "a triple battle, with each of us using one pokémon against your two."

Perplexed, Croux questioned, "So you guys will use one pokémon each, while we can use two incase our first is knocked out?"

The green haired leader nodded sagely, "We want to train up some of our young pokémon, and Striaton gym is known for its teamwork. You are allowed the handicap of an extra pokémon, and all three of you win as long as all of our pokémon faint."

"Can we have time to discuss it among ourselves?"

Cress answered again, did they take turns speaking? "You can come back tomorrow to schedule your challenge. Whether it's a typical challenge or a triple depends on you."

Bea nodded her understanding and tugged at her friend's shirts, signaling that she was leaving. The three teens walked outside of the gym and sat quietly, thinking it over by themselves.

"I say we do it," Hill was the first to break the silence.

Croux shook his head, "I disagree. These guys are practically experts at multiple battles, and we have no experience with it. Plus, the only one of us with more than one pokémon is Bea."

"Even their normal battles require two pokémon from the challenger," Hill offered.

"I don't know," Bea started, "I'm not very good at battling period. On one side a triple battle means you guys can support me, but I think I'll just be a hindrance."

"None of us are experienced with battling, period," Croux reassured, "Besides, we can't continue to Nacrene unless we all have the badge. So regardless of your ability, you have to defeat the gym."

Rather than fuel her passion like he intended, Croux's comment only served to make Bea despair. "I have a suggestion," Hill cut in to break up the tension, "Let's go looking for pokémon. Croux and I need to catch a second no matter what, so let's do that and then we can discuss this when we know all the pokémon we have on hand."

At this prospect Bea cheered up considerably. When her egg had hatched into a panpour she grew even more excited about growing her team. "I want to see the Dreamyard!"

"I would prefer Route 3," Croux countered, "This is about catching pokémon, and I hear that the Dreamyard doesn't have much variety."

"Let's split then," Hill proposed. Both of his friends tensed at the suggestion, so he quickly continued. "I know, I know, you guys don't want me to go alone again," he said with a submissive gesture. He failed to notice the look the other two shared. "I'll accompany Bea to the Dreamyard. She can keep me out of trouble."

Croux and Bea were silent while they looked at their companion. They had agreed to not inform him about the 'incident' Bea had suffered on Route 1. They decided that his injuries were enough for him to deal with.

Croux had yet to leave Bea's side since then, except for in the safety of town. Even now he was hesitant to leave the recovering Hill as her companion. The two stared at each other for a tense moment, until Bea nodded in agreement.

"Fine. Hill and I will explore the Dreamyard. Croux can go to Route 3. We'll meet back for dinner," she declared while standing and brushing nonexistent dust off her pants.

* * *

"Water, Helen, waaaater. We can't believe she did it." Hill sung under his breath while feeding the infant panpour. The recently hatched pokémon still needed regular bottle feedings and Hill had happily volunteered to help care for his 'goddaughter'. "I'm just glad she was mammal," Bea chuckled at the scene, "I don't know what I would do if I had to feed her like a bird." "Ha! Or what if you hatched something like a slugma. You would be lucky to only lose your pack contents."

Hill placed his charge into his old sling along Bea's side. Choosing to not coddle his sore arm, Hill had repurposed the device like a mobile cradle when Helen first hatched. The blue primate was sleeping gently, satisfied with her meal and the warmth of her trainer's body. The duo was approaching the Dreamyard, so they paused to take in the scenery.

They looked at the remains of what must have been a massive facility. Despite the thick stone walls and well supported structures the building had been decimated in some sort of accident. With no history on its origins, and no known owner, the grounds had been reclaimed by the wild. Now the broken remains were shelter to multitudes of wild pokémon.

"Anything you're hoping the find?" Hill conversed while looking at the deteriorated walls. "I'm guessing a munna? They're the only thing that's unique to here."

Bea shook her head, "I don't know. Maybe when I was younger, but after meeting Shondell…" she let the statement hang in the air. Hill snorted remembering his dad's old musharna. Shondell was more a decorative feature than a member of the family. She slept about 22 hours a day, waking only briefly to eat and void herself. Hill shuddered when he remembered her tantrums, especially because he always had to fetch his dad's cofagrigus to eat the dream. That damn thing was creepy. He'd had a few nightmares himself of being trapped inside that thing while it laughed at his screams. He remembered the cool moisture surrounding him, like he was buried head first in-

"HILL!" Bea called, breaking him out of his trance. He shook his head clear of the memories' remnants. He hadn't thought about those dreams for years, but he recalled them so intensely. Bea was waiting for him next to an arch of concrete, the only clear opening to accessing the ancient facility. She was glaring at a 6 foot sapling that had grown in the doorway, blocking the entrance. "Can you think of anything to do about this?" she asked with a light kick to the tree's base.

"Well, maybe-" "NO FIRE!" she reprimanded immediately. Hill looked at her sourly, but said nothing as he fetched the gloves.

Slipping them on he worked to focus. He imagined all of his muscle being pushed into the gloves and they started to turn a soft peach color. He wrapped his hands around the base of the tree, his strengthened hands digging furrows into the wood. Setting his feet, Hill prepared to pull the sapling out of the ground. Taking a deep breath, he suddenly remembered his father. His focus was shattered as he recalled the man who abandoned him, and the gloves changed. Responding to his hatred and vitriol the garments turned a deep lavender color. Hill lost his grip on the tree, falling back on his ass. He was still holding the handfuls of wood in his grip. Before his eyes the chunks of lumber blackened and shriveled in his hands. He looked to the tree to find that the toxic rot was also affecting the plant. In a matter of seconds the once healthy plant had browned, collapsed, and decomposed into sludge.

Hill looked at his hands as the gloves turned back to their normal white. He had never used that element before. Poison? He guessed. "Geez, I didn't want you to kill it," Bea's words interrupted his thoughts, "I feel kind of guilty now."

Hill quickly ripped off the gloves and tucked them back into his pants. He said nothing, unable to defend his actions. Bea noticed his sober face and stopped her playful teasing. Putting a hand on his shoulder she asked, "Hey, you okay?"

Hill just nodded and walked through the entrance of the Dreamyard. It's a good thing he had removed the gloves, because otherwise his rotten emotions would be decimating everything around him.

* * *

Croux was just outside Striaton city training Winston. He had pulled out his fishing rod and tied a fist sized stone to the string at the end. Now he was swinging it around randomly like a pendulum and having Winston fire water guns at the moving target. They had already worked on his precision against a stationary target, and Croux already had plans for after they master this task. Winston was taking it seriously, firing off pressurized jets of water regularly. Half the shots missed, but then the otter pokémon would practice dodging out of the way of the swinging rock. Croux enjoyed the spectacle and would sometimes adjust the rod in his hands so that the rock's pattern was less predictable. He was grateful for the distraction, something to take his mind off his guilt. He still felt terrible about what happened to Bea, remembering her crying every time his stitches itched. He was foolish to think he knew better than the laws. They existed more for the safety of traveling trainers than to control them. He'd let his first opportunity of freedom make him reckless. And Bea had almost died because of it.

He pulled up on the rod bringing the rock swinging towards him. He caught it and set the contraption down. Winston deserved a break, and his water reserves needed to be filled again. The oshawott began guzzling down a water bottle while Croux gently petted his furry head. The once combative pokémon had rapidly grown comfortable around him, and Croux smiled at his new partner.

He looked in the direction of the Dreamyard, where his friends had gone. They should have arrived there by now. He watched for several minutes, making sure that smoke didn't suddenly appear. Satisfied, he pushed himself to his feet and set off to his own area.

Croux wasn't sure what he expected to find on the route, but he knew his odds were better than at the Dreamyard. Ignoring the likelihood of multiple people scaring off the wildlife, it also lacked any pokémon he was interested in. Lillipup and patrat were common all over Nuvema, and if he wanted a purrloin he would have taken the one Hill fought in Accumula. Instead, they left the poor creature the abandoned creature with the pokecenter, who promised to heal its injuries and try to find a trainer to take it.

Croux wondered how that guy had gotten the purrloin to fight when it wasn't actually his pokémon. It's possible to have that kind of loyal bond without a pokeball involved, but then the guy left it behind to run away. So much for his talk about not using pokémon as tools. But was that stuff about abuse? Did he somehow know about Croux fighting with Winston? Most likely the guy was quick to make leaps in judgment and would have accused them of anything. But it was still disconcerting.

Croux passed by a preschool, the sound of their play bringing a smile to his face. It was another ten minutes before he found some untamed land to explore. He clicked his tongue and Winston perked up on his shoulder.

"Keep an eye out. Don't attack unless I tell you so or if something comes at us," he instructed.

The oshawott nodded his understanding and turned to focus on the tall grass. Croux waded into the flora, moving slowly through the chest high blades of green. Winston hissed from his perch and fired a jet of water towards the ground. His target let out a pained yip and retreated. Croux hadn't even noticed the approaching lillipup. He rubbed his pokémon's ear in gratitude and continued his exploration.

It was several more encounters before Croux found something to interest him. He had considered some of the pidove, but they fled too fast for Winston to hit them. But now Croux eyed a foe who couldn't escape in the air. He was surprised it took him so long to find one, considering they were the only pokémon taller than the grass that surrounded them. The blitzle was slowly chewing several blades of grass, every movement of its jaw drew in their impressive lengths until he had consumed the several feet of plant. Preparing to dip its head down for another mouthful, the creature tensed suddenly when it noticed the observer.

Croux slowly stood from his crouch and approached the blitzle. It may be unable to fly, but they were still damn fast. He shrugged his shoulders and Winston promptly hopped down into a combative stance. The electric type recognized the threat and stamped its feet in agitation. Croux noticed the white sparks that were produced when the pokémon's hooves collided. He gulped, well aware that this species could start fires with their flint-like ungula. He was also aware that he was currently surrounded by very flammable grass. For a second he considered running, but quickly discarded that idea. Blitzle and zebstrika were notoriously irritable, and they would not take a challenge lightly.

"Winston, water gun his feet!" he quickly ordered. His pokémon followed the command immediately, soaking the combustive hooves and burying the blitzle's front legs into half a foot of mud. "Now, multiple bubbles!" Winston fired a series of large explosive bubble like he had used in the duel with his trainer. The bubbles slowly moved towards the trapped blitzle, propelled by little more than the wind.

The electric type and been working to free itself, but when it saw the oncoming attack it stopped struggling and gathered its energy. With a loud whiney it loosed an arc of electricity from its mane. The electricity hit the first bubble, popping it with a loud concussive blast, and then continued to the next one. The energy traveled between the bubbles like a chain before finally reaching their source.

Winston cried out in pain at the shock, but didn't falter. The otter pokémon stretched the stiffness from his limbs and prepared to continue the battle. Using its distraction, the blitzle had finally managed to pull itself from the vacuous mud puddle. It stamped the mud off its feet and then launched into a rapid tackle. Winston was flung in the air by the blow, but was able to turn himself enough to aim several gouts of water at his enemy before landing some distance away.

The blitzle shrugged off the weak attacks and centered on the only remaining opponent it could see. Croux practically tore through his pants to grab the knife at his ankle. Still crouched, he pushed his body to leap to the left, anticipating a quick attack at his person. He landed and rolled to his feet to find that the blitzle hadn't tried to charge him. Instead, with another frenzied whiney, the electric type fired a bolt of energy in his direction. Unable to dodge, Croux reacted on instinct and held his weapon in front of his face in a guard. The arc of electricity warped off course and struck the metal in his hand. With a flash of light and several sparks he dropped the tool. He looked at the pink skin on his hand, where the heat had burned him, and sent a thankful prayer that he settled for a rubber grip rather than paying extra for leather.

His exaltation was interrupted by an angry snort. He looked at the enraged blitzle who was none too happy that his enemy was still alive. The beast stamped his hooves again and lowered its head. Moving quickly, Croux gouged a shallow hole in the earth with his blade, and then stick it in the ground handle first before repeating his leap. This time, he did indeed dodge an incoming tackle. The blitzle released another bolt, weaker this time, only for it to immediately divert away from Croux and hit the buried knife, harmlessly.

A thrill ran down Croux's spine. He had just disarmed the pokémon of its best weapon. Now he just had to avoid being trampled.

"Osss!"

Croux offered another prayer for whatever divine being was watching out for him. Winston burst from the grass that hadn't been flattened by the battle. The little water type hit the blitzle in a tackle and then latched on with his claws and teeth. The zebra pokémon thrashed wildly to try and buck his attacker, but his attempts only resulted in more slashes in his hide. In a final desperate attack, the blitzle launched its greatest bolt of lightning yet. The energy flowed out in a dome, pushing back the grass and sending Winston off in another flight.

Croux closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, preparing for the force to hit him. Nothing happened. He tentatively opened one eye, then both, to see that he was fine. The knife, still buried in the ground only a few feet from him, was smoldering and glowing orange. The metal was warped and the rubber had melted under the extreme heat. He would need to buy a replacement, maybe two.

Croux stood shakily and looked at the scene around him. A perfect circle of grass had been cleared away, leaving only exposed dirt and fragments of plants. Nothing was burning, thankfully. The blitzle was lying on its side, breathing heavily and its wound still bleeding. Croux fetched the pack he had removed before starting the encounter and pulled out a poke ball. He walked over to the exhausted pokémon and kneeled down to it.

The pokémon opened its eyes at his approach, and sent death glares that could compete with its electricity in lethalness. Croux held up the pokeball, making his intentions clear. Countering the creature's fierce gaze, "I'm going to call you Bromden."

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*Pokedex Entries*

*Blitzle – their hooves are highly conductive, allowing for electricity to be concentrated through them. With a large spark that can ignite the thick fur around their ankles to produce a flame. They can supplement their diet with external sources of electricity.*


	6. Chapter 6: The Dreamyard

*Chapter 6*

* * *

Hill and Bea had been walking through the debilitated facility for five minutes. Little more than concrete and tile remained, and everything was covered in layers of vines and moss. "What do you suppose destroyed this place," Bea asked suddenly. Hill wiped a hand across a glassless windowpane, "No scorch marks. So not a fire or explosion." Bea looked at the web work of fine cracks that adorned every surface, "A concussive blast maybe?" Hill didn't respond right away, "What about a-"

"Raaoouu!"

Both teens froze at the sound. They turned towards the source, somewhere farther down the hallway they were exploring. With a silent look, they continued forward sedately.

"Do the small ones even make any?" sounded a rough-male voice.

"Shit! I'll cut this fucker open if that's what it takes to find some," this speaker was female.

"Mauuu!" and that was the cry they had heard before.

Hill led the way into the room, some kind of lobby, with Bea following closely. They ducked behind a decrepit desk and peeked over its lip. A man was standing over a woman in the middle of the room. His arms were crossed while she was kneeling over a round, pink, form.

"Don't kill it just yet. If it makes enough noise it could attract others," the man instructed.

Hill watched the scene, feeling familiarity with the situation. He looked closely at the human's faces; even from here he could see the red of their bloodshot eyes. Hair, greasy and tangled, skin, yellowed and cracked. The most telling trait was the purpled bags under their eyes.

Hill retreated back behind the desk's cover, meeting Bea's concerned gaze. "Junkies," he said simply, "I saw them often trying to reach Shondell." Bea nodded her understanding. The dream mist produced by the species was used recreationally by people looking to experience lifelike dreams. "Do munna produce any?" she whispered. Hill shook his head, "Musharna only." They both knew the drug seekers would kill the munna, and likely others, to solve their needs.

They removed their bulky packs, tucking them safely under the desk. As Bea strung her bow, Hill thought about if he should use the gloves. He actually felt guilty about using them against that green haired guy, once he calmed down. These guys might be more deserving, but his recent slip up scared him. A moments loss of control and he killed that tree. What if the same thing happened with a person, or one of his friends? He shook his head, deciding against it. As Bea prepared he just performed some mild stretches and double tied his shoes.

Bea handed him Ellie's pokeball. Her hands would be full once they started their attack, and she couldn't release the pokémon early without sacrificing their surprise. As is she had to leave the sleeping Helen out, hidden among their bags. Hill took the ball and prepared Memo's in his other hand. "I'll send our pokémon out and then separate the people. You target the female but give them a chance to surrender before firing." At her affirmation, Hill stood to a crouch. He started moving swiftly, releasing both pokémon and clipping their balls to his belt. The people turned at the sound, but had no chance to react before Hill hit the man in a full body tackle.

The two males rolled on the ground and began grappling. The woman started to move, but a gust of wind stopped her. Bea's warning shot bounced off the tile floor and skittered to the opposite end of the room. She silently cursed, knowing that the arrow head had shattered. The woman halted and looked at her as she was drawing back another shot.

"Don't move."

She woman froze in her crouch, raising both hands in front of her. Bea noticed the small knife she held in one hand. After a loud grunt she glanced over and checked on Hill. The boy had managed to pin the addict, sitting on his chest and using his knees to hold down his arms. Judging by his cocked back arm and the man's swelling cheek Hill had already had to stop one escape attempt. With a whimper of pain, the munna squirmed to its feet and tried to crawl away. The woman eyed the fleeing creature hungrily, adjusting her grip on the knife.

"DON'T MOVE!" Bea repeated with more force. Ellie hissed and withdrew her vines.

With a glare the woman quickly rose to her feet and took a step for the munna. Bea gritted her teeth and moved her aim downwards. Her arrow flew true, piercing the woman's calf and sending her to the floor with a scream. Ellie leapt onto her back and wrapped her vines around the woman's wrists.

"You little bitch!" the man spat and struggled futilely. Hill didn't even bother hitting him, just letting his prisoner tire himself out.

He quickly gave up, fighting to take deep breaths despite the youth sitting on his chest. The woman just groaned piteously.

A familiar cry came from behind the desk. Both teen's heads whipped around at the sound of the infant panpour waking up. Unconsciously, Hill shifted his weight towards the pokémon. Sensing the change in pressure, the man heaved! Hill was thrown off and his captive scrambled to his feet. The man drew out a pokeball and threw it to ground, summoning an enraged patrat to his side.

"Get the pig," he commanded. The frenzied patrat launched at Memo, preventing him from helping his trainer. The addict moved, intentionally stepping on the downed teen's torso, pushing him back to the ground and knocking hit breath out of him. The man sprinted towards Bea, who hadn't reloaded after he previous shot. As she frantically reached for a new arrow, the man shouldered her to the side.

He continued past the girl to reach the desk. He flipped the cheap wooden desk and looked at what was hidden beneath it. With a grimace of disgust, he grabbed the still screaming Helen and brandished her towards the teens.

"Release my lady, or I'll snap its fucking neck," he growled. Putting one hand on her head while his other gripped her entire body, everyone knew that he could easily do such.

Bea looked at Hill, who has clutching his chest and fighting to sit up. Memo stood by his trainer, having soundly defeated the patrat. With an apologetic look, Bea walked towards the woman. She gently pushed her snivy, signaling the woman's freedom. The woman pushed herself up and slugged Bea across the face. Knocking the girl to the ground, the woman instantly began choking her. "Fucking shoot me…" the woman spat as her hands tightened around Bea's throat. Before Hill could react a flash of green wrapped around the woman's own neck. Ellie pulled back with all of her weigh but failed to pull the woman off her trainer. The addict released her grip to claw at the tendrils cutting off her air.

"Stop it, dammit! Let her go!" the man roared.

"After you drop the panpour," Hill was wearing a pair of lavender gloves. Drops of viscous fluid fell to the ground, dissolving the foundation with an acidic hiss. The boy raised one of his noxious limbs and aimed it towards the still struggling woman. "Drop the pokemon or I'll turn your partner to slurry."

The man wracked his frazzled brain trying to contemplate what this kid was. The fumes he was giving off were making him dizzy even with the distance. Whatever was all over his hands, he knew not to let it touch you. He was tempted to kill the monkey and run, leaving Carol to deal with her own shit. He looked at the woman, she still had her weight on top of the girl. The snivy's vines had garroted her, leaving just enough slack for her to take desperate gasps of air.

He released his grip on the panpour, letting it fall among the bags on the floor. "I just wanted some mist," he sobbed, "I haven't slept in a week. I was just looking for some mist."

Hill nodded at to stop her strangling. The woman staggered to her feet and limped towards the tearful man. Hill was unfazed by the tears. "Mist," the word left a bad taste in his mouth, "if you want mist, just look around."

The couple looked around the room. There were swirling trails of cloudy fog surrounding the humans. With an enthused cry, the man took off for the thickest part of the fog, the woman following on her injured leg.

Hill approached Bea, who had run to Helen as soon as the adults left. The blue primate was unhurt, currently fighting to escape Hills pack. Making sure the poison effect was gone, Hill grabbed his friends shoulder. "We have to get out of here."

Bea looked at him crossly, "And just forget about those two?"

Hill's voice was iron, "Yes. We have to leave. Now."

The girl's defiance melted into concern, "Why?"

"Because you don't want to see what an angry musharna can do."

He shouldered both their bags and took off for the way they entered, leaving Bea to catch up.

"Hill?"

"Come on."

"Hill!"

"There's no time."

"HEESSSHLLR!"

He spun around at the unearthly sound, but Bea was gone. The entire building was gone. He looked towards the exit, but it was nowhere to be seen. "Shit," he cursed as he looked around the familiar landscape of his front yard.

* * *

*CRASH*

He turned towards the sound. It had come from inside his 'house'. Hill knew this was a bad idea. He knew to not get caught in a hallucination. He pivoted and started walking in the opposite direction of the house, but the illusion followed him. Despite his steps, he never grew any farther from his starting point. With a sigh of defeat, Hill approached the house.

Entering the front door, he could see that the home was trashed. His eyes ignored the broken furniture and carved up drywall, immediately focusing on the trail of blood. Panic set in as he realized the only possible source. He dropped the bags and took off following the trail.

He wondered if he had actually been teleported, it was all so familiar. Every little detail appeared as he remembered them. The height markings on the bathroom door, the taped together photo of his parents that he had torn when younger, even that shiny spot on the wall where his mom had used high gloss paint accidently. He took a detour to look through the bookshelf. The items he shoved to the ground bounced and thumped exactly like he expected. He found a little porcelain figurine of a bride and groom, his parents wedding cake topper. He hesitated to smash it, his mom cared so much about the glass couple, but he had to know. He shattered the figurine against the floor and stooped to sift through the shards. There they were, the expensive earrings he had slipped inside in an act of childhood mischief. His mom had counted them as forever lost rather than break the topper.

"AHHHGTH," a choked scream came from down the hall.

Hill chased the sound, logic forgotten. He reached a door. Mom's room, was it always at the end of a hallway? Another unusual sound made him push aside the thoughts. He yanked the door open and looked around frantically. His mom was there, smiling and holding her arms spread for a hug. "Hilly, come to mommy," she called. He didn't remember her voice sounding like that. "Hilly, don't hurt my feelings," she croaked. This wasn't right. Why is she so pale? Were her lips blue? Was… her mouth dripping?

"Hilbert!" she said in a demonic voice, splattering him with black fluid as she spoke, "Come. Here."

Hill stepped backwards, horrified. The thing growled and opened its mouth. Opened it to about three feet. The gaping lips contained no teeth or tongue, just inky blackness. A bubble bulged from the blackness, swelling like a rapidly. It expanded and elongated till it looked like a ten-foot-long maggot covered in tar. With a wet pop the body that resembled his mother dropped to the ground, flattened and stretched like a deflated balloon.

The tar-maggot shuddered and eight slug-like protrusions sprouted from its form. The slimy stubs flailed wildly before reaching the ground, where they stiffened and formed rubbery legs. The monster turned the most bloated portion of its body towards the frozen Hill, and a familiar jagged smile surfaced from its depths. The cofagrigus face opened its mouth and unleashed a peal of gleeful laughter that made Hill's legs turn to jelly. With a sound like a cat choking on a hairball a mass appeared in its center, then traveled up to mouth like reversed footage of a snake eating an egg. The serrated teeth split from one another and the mouth opened wide as the lump neared the opening. Hill broke from his stupor and ran.

A torrent of bile flooded from the doorway behind him. The splash back hit the fleeing teen and he had to fight to move in the glue-like liquid. Racing down the hallway, Hill could hear laughter following him, always right behind him. Every footstep, every brushed against wall left behind a spot of black. He ran through dozens of different halls and doorways, all recognizable from some point in his life but none offered shelter.

Turning a corner Hill found himself in a passage with only a single door as keeping it from being a dead end. He stopped to consider his options, but the roiling form of slipped and slip behind him. It crashed against a wall and turned to regard him. A second passed with them just watching the other, and then the monster's center bulged again as it prepared another geyser of muck.

Making the obvious choice, Hill ran for the door. He could hear the warning cough that signaled the attack as he struggled to open the door. Finally getting the knob to turn, a splash sounded behind him. He rushed through the opening, turned to slam the door behind him. He could see the black sick flowing down the hall immediately behind him. He got the door closed, suffering only a spattering of droplets.

The pressed against the door to catch his breath. He expected to feel some crash against it, but the wood remained still. Gasping in desperate lungfulls of air, he looked at where he was now.

He was in an impossible large room. The ceiling stretched hundreds of feet above his head. The entire place was a perfect circle. The only furniture on the porcelain white floor where some mundane plastic benches in the center of the room. The walls were entirely made of glass which contained a clear red liquid. It reminded him of a museum, with their quiet atmosphere and artifacts on display. But the things behind the glass weren't for him to inspect.

Hundreds of thousands of monstrous humans looked through the glass. Each one was unique in their grotesqueness. Vestigial limbs and massive tumors were common. Others were completely alien with their torsos covered in screaming mouths. Each one was focused intently on Hill, watching him like an animal in the zoo. Some tapped their seven fingered hands on the glass while others pointed and conversed with their second heads.

Hill felt like he would be ill. He looked for an escape, but all he saw were gaping horrors. A thump assaulted the silence. Hill's ill feeling went away as his stomach dropped to his feet. The door he had entered through, still with its rivulets of bile running down the wall, shuddered with impact. He could hear gurgling laughter as the door bent inwards. His escape needs became more frantic as the door splintered and caved under the assault. Finally he found an exit. Not even considering it he left the round room, and walked out onto a wooden pier.

It sprouted out into an expanse of water. An ocean of water, completely red. He approached the edge of the dock and looked into the sea. There were the hideous humans again. They looked at him with the same interest as before. When they reached out the lip of the water stopped their hands just like the glass had earlier. They couldn't leave the water. Hill shuddered and stood to turn away from the sight. He turned to find someone standing behind him. Bea? Before he could react she smiled wickedly put one hand on his sternum. The push was too surprising for him to react. Terror crawled along his skin as he plummeted towards the water.

Hill fell backwards into the cold water. Immediately he could feel the hands and teeth tearing at him, dragging him further into the depths. His screams produced only bubbles to rise to the service. He fought wildly, trying to pull away from the horrors. He thrashed and writhed, fleeing one arm from their grip only to flail it uselessly.

His hand stuck concrete, and he cradled it with a cry of pain. He wasn't in the water anymore. Again, the beings surrounded him and pawed unsuccessfully to grab him. Except this time he was on solid ground. No, not ground, fractured tile. He was back in the Dreamyard.

He was in a haze of mist, the tendrils of fog displaying his nightmare like a movie screen. Hill tentatively waved a hand at the image, only for it split and recoil from his touch. Confused, he noticed that he was wearing the gloves. That's right; he never took them off after the fight with the mist addicts. They were an unfamiliar color, black as the tar monster that had chased him. As he moved the black gloves towards the mist, his hand sliced through the fog like a knife through gelatin. The mist dispersed at his touch, taking its terrors with it.

He suddenly felt overwhelmed and fell to his knees, purging his stomach contents. He shakily tried to stand, only to fall back on his ass. He sat and tried to calm his nerves, taking in deep breathes and waving away the encroaching miasma.

"No!"

Hill shot to attention. That was Bea's voice. A moment of hesitation passed as he remembered her pushing him off the dock, but shook his head in frustration. "That wasn't the real one," he scolded himself.

He managed to stand and began walking. He moved slowly, the fog preventing him from seeing more than a few feet. The images were gone now so he faced only dull clouds of white. Still, they shrunk away at his approach, the ink black gloves acting like a bane to the vapor.

He continued, ears open to any more screams. Suddenly, he stumbled as his foot collided with something solid. He looked down to find the body of the woman he had fought with earlier. He could only identify her by the broken shaft of an arrow still left in her shin. Her face was no longer recognizable as human. There was nothing left of the haggard visage, the sharp cheekbones pale skin had been replaced by a mass of shredded flesh and congealing blood. Looking at her hands, he would guess she did it herself. Hill grimaced in disgust at the gory scene before him. No one deserved this. If she'd had eyelids he might have closed them for her, but instead he just left her horrified gaze continue.

Hill searched for what felt like an hour. He was completely unclear where he was, the haze making it impossible to set location markers. His light footsteps were the only sound in the eerie silence. The lack of any more screams was actually more upsetting to him. If his friends had ended up like that woman, he swore he would make musharna go extinct.

A soft whimpering came to his attention. Emboldened, he rushed towards the sound. Eventually he found its source, an infantile panpour crammed into a corner behind some debris. Hill crouched and waved his hands over Helen, brushing away the mental and literal fog. She raised her closed eyes in his direction and sniffed the air. With an exaulted cry she ran to him and climbed up to meet his embrace.

Hill hugged the monkey gently. "I'm glad you're safe," he whispered. Pulling down his collar and tucking in his shirt he tucked Helen inside the warm makeshift pouch. An idea occurred to him, he had last seen Helen in the main room, where his bag should be. He spoke loudly, "Pokedex voice command. Respond."

*Be-doop* "How may I help you?" sounded an electronic voice.

Excited, Hill continued his game of Marco Polo until he found the device. There it was, in the outside pocket of his bag. He retrieved the encyclopedia and hefted the bag. He quickly found Bea's bag as well. He looked through it, and swore softly when he found no pokeballs. Memo and Ellie should still be running loose like Helen. Just two more he had to find.

Hill trusted the pokémon's ability to deal with psychic trauma more than Bea's, so he made finding her his number one priority. Finding her pokedex, he opened it and offered a silent thank you that she didn't password protect it. He scrolled through and found the current pokémon link. Activating the pokeball tracker, he set it to scan for Sam's ball. Hopefully Bea still had it on her belt.

He continued his journey through the labyrinth. The extra weight from the bags slowed him, but the tracker saved him from aimlessly wandering. He passed by several wild pokémon as he walked, apparently also wrapped up in the psychic mist. Interestingly, he saw the occasional purrloin snatching up the easy prey. He guessed their dark typing make them immune to the psychic attack. He looked at the black gloves he wore, guessing that he must've tapped into the dark power somehow. Mental types like dark and psychic were a lot harder to use than more physical ones. His dad never taught him how to use those abilities, only that they depended on powerful emotions. He wondered what emotion had triggered the power. Fear?

The pokedex's steady beeping grew faster as he neared Sam's pokeball. "Shit," he cursed when he found the ball alone. He retrieved it, and deciding he could do with the help, summoned the dog-like pokémon. Sam appeared and shook his head before scratching behind an ear. He noticed Hill and barked at him, bemused.

"Bea is missing," Hill explained, "We need to find her right away, can you help?"

Sam gave a growling yip and started off the way Hill had come, sniffing at some trail. Hill tried to contain his impatience as he followed the puppy, it had been at least two hours since he had heard Bea scream. That was the last indication he had that she was alive. Shit, this was the third time HE had almost died, fourth if you count that green hair guy attacking him.

They'd been away from home for two weeks and it had gone horribly thus far. He wondered at the hubris of thinking they were capable of this. They were better than most kids their age, certainly. They traveled in group, although that was required for minors. They had excelled in the comprehensive tests, self defense training, and the wildlife survivalist exercises. And yet this adventure had already seemed like struggle after only two towns. How did the less prepared survive? 'I guess they didn't', he acknowledged. That was exactly why they required all those credentials to leave home and explore the country. Most people don't leave a town without either a powerful pokémon at their side or a paid escort. He should have just bought a pokémon from a breeder and had one trained up before leaving home. Even on his limited budget he could have a pretty decent fighter on his side right now, but instead he insisted on waiting for the application to receive a state supplied starter.

Idealism, that was his problem. He had an idea of the amazing trainer he wanted to be, and that didn't include an mundane pokémon like a watchog. He had an idea of playing the hero, and that drove him to attack the junkies from earlier. If he had ignored it and left he wouldn't be in this situation. What would be different? A munna or two might be dead? Pft, fuck the demonic hell beasts. Hill made a promise to himself, if he got out of this he would start putting practicality first. The safety of him and his friends was his priority, and the rest of the world could look after themselves. After all, it was clear that their attempts to save the munna meant nothing to its parent.

Sam barked, cutting into his introspection. The puppy ran forward, yipping happily. Hill brightened and quickened his own pace. A flash of yellow hair, an orange blouse, and dried red blood met his eye. Bea was alive, thank Arceus, she was alive and awake and pointing her bow at him-

…wait.

She was aimed he bow directly at him, and arrow knocked and centered on his chest. The girl was panting heavily and eyeing him with a fierce glare. Fragments of arrows littered the ground and her quiver sat empty on the ground. Sam yipped at her feet and tugged at the hem of her jeans, but she didn't seem to notice him. Her dilated eyes were focused entirely on Hill. He moved slightly to the left and right, but the tip of the arrow followed him.

'I will never get a goddamn psychic type,' he thought to himself.

Bea was too far for him to clear the fog away. And whatever she thought he was, he wouldn't be getting any close. Hill wracked his brain, knowing that any words would be similarly hidden from her. She was torn, bloody, and exhausted. Bea was backed into a corner and saw him as the approaching predator.

What could he do? Defusing the situation wasn't possible, the illusion would warp everything he said or did. He considered using fire; a well aimed attack could sever her bow string, disarming her. But that would mean ending the dark gloves, making him vulnerable to the mist himself. At Sam's disheartened whimpering, he thought of something.

"Sam," he called. The puppy turned to look at him. "Bite her Sam. Bite her and run. Then I can help her."

The hallucination didn't include Sam as a threat. If he could distract Bea's animosity from Hill, then the teen could rush in and clear her mind of the mist's influence. Unfortunately, Sam looked at him and raised his hackles in outrage. Hill sighed, "Of course he wouldn't attack his trainer. Damn loyal mutt…" he groused under his breath.

A stirring in his shirt reminded him of another presence. Helen poked her head out from his color and stared at the boy. He wasn't sure if the blind creature could, in fact, stare. But Helen seemed to size him up before crawling out from his shirt and climbing down. Hill held his breath; Bea didn't seem to react to the panpour any more than she had Sam. As the little water-type approached her trainer, Hill felt extremely thankful that he had helped to care for the infant. If he hadn't, she likely would have reacted the same way as Sam. Instead, she trusted him enough to follow his suggestion.

Helen reached Bea's leg. The girl's drawn arm was beginning to shake from the strain of pulling back the string. This standoff wouldn't last for much longer. Helen scrabbled up the trainer's shin, and glanced at Hill. Hill spread his feet and nodded, then remembered that panpour are blind and spoke.

Helen reached her sharp nails out and dragged them down Bea's leg, drawing a thin line of blood. The teen girl hissed in pain and lowered her bow. She looked away from the perceived threat to seek the actual one. Moving quickly, Hill leapt towards his friend. He wrapped her in a pinning hug, dragging her down with him. Bea struggled in his grasp desperately.

"Bea! Bea stop!" Hill shouted in her ear, "You're safe. I promise you're safe."

She slowly ceased fighting him and stammered, "What-what's happening?"

"Musharna mental attack," Hill explained, "I was able to block it. Are you okay?"

"Oh god…" she sobbed. He loosened the strength but maintained the embrace, holding the girl as she cried. He let her get it out, and even began crying himself, now that he wasn't driven to find her. Both wept heavily for several minutes, unable to do anything else.

* * *

"How are we going to get out of here?" Bea asked once they had regained their composure.

"First we have to find Ellie and Memo. Here," he handed over her pokedex and bag. "After that, I have an idea."

He pulled out an empty pokeball and clipped it to his belt. The group set off in search of the missing starters. They found Ellie first. She was curled up defensively in a large crevice along the wall were the mist seemed to miss her. The clever reptile had retrieved her pokeball and kept it close. Hill could only hope Memo was as clear headed.

"Keep Ellie out," he instructed to Bea, "If you see a purrloin, grab it with her vines. Don't catch it." The girl was confused by the command, but didn't question him.

They found Memo's ball rolled behind a rusted file cabinet. Hill was on the verge of panic, but Sam approached and sniffed headily from the ball. He sounded a yip and set off on some trail only he could sense. After a few minutes of this, strange sounds began to permeate the silence. They found Memo standing over a prone, unmoving, creature. He had a collection of purrloin surrounding them, their dark auras seemingly creating a barrier from the mist. Hill's starter was fighting viciously to ward them off, three of their numbers already lying unconscious nearby, but Memo was barely hanging on.

Hill charged into the battlefield, sending the cats sprinting. He lifted up his exhausted partner and hugged him to his chest. He could feel more tears encroaching at the reunion, but maintained some stoicism. Bea approached carrying Ellie, who was carrying a thrashing purrloin wrapped up in vines. "What's that other thing?"

Hill looked at the still form. "An audino?" he said curiously. Its steadily rising chest was the only confirmation that it was alive. The poor thing was torn to shreds, by the purrloins he guessed. Deciding this was his best odds; Hill plucked the empty pokeball from his belt and promptly captured the injured pokémon. He removed one shoe and began to draw the string from its laces.

At Bea's quizzical expression, he explained. "The purrloin are unaffected by the mist, they can get out of this place no problem. And I bet their eyes even let them see through the haze." Bea's eyes widened in understanding as tied the sphere to the struggling feline, "So you're going to let this one loose and use the pokeball tracker to follow it to an exit," she concluded.

Hill nodded, making sure the ball was secure on the purrloin. Ellie released it and the feline dashed off in a blur. The humans couldn't hope to move as fast, but the plan worked. It took some more wandering, but with a fixed destination they could follow the walls to the exit. They found themselves outside the Dreamyard in time to see the sun descending in the distance.

"Hey! You two," a demanding voice called.

The teens were accosted by a middle aged man wearing a ranger's uniform. "What were you doing there?" he pointed to the building they had just exited.

Hill snorted in derision, "Escaping, mostly."

The ranger was unamused, "Were you the ones that riled up the musharna?"

Hill didn't hide his contempt, "Riled up? That's one hell of a goddamn understatement. That thing in there isn't throwing a hissy fit, it launched an attack that has killed at least one person, most likely one more, and Arceus knows how many else! No, we didn't 'rile it up', officer, we just happened to caught in that madness. Oh, also, have you seen a purrloin with a string tied around it?" he threw in just to mock the man.

The man's scowl might have been unsettling on any other day, but after what they had been through Hill was beyond being intimidated. The ranger pointed a finger at a uniformed woman, holding a struggling cat.

"This one yours?" she asked wryly as the teens approached.

"The cat's wild, but the string and ball are mine."

"Pretty clever trick. Try not to make a habit of messing with the wildlife, though," she gave him his stuff back. Hill thanked the woman, much to the male ranger's annoyance, and they headed for the exit towards Striaton.

"I expect you both to submit to questioning tomorrow!" the man called to their backs.

"Oh, blow it out your ass, Ranger Rick!" Bea shouted back.

* * *

Croux was rubbing his forehead trying to prevent the headache. Hill should be thankful that he lost his knife, after Croux saw Bea's injuries. He knew that more had happened than they had told him, but Bea was unwilling to go into detail and Hill was surprisingly silent. Rather than push, Croux focused on the more typical issue.

"So. You guys were gone all day, and caught only one new pokémon? Which you might release, anyway?"

Bea nodded in affirmation, while Hill only ate his food mechanically and stared at nothing. Croux wanted to scream at them to talk, but contained himself.

"Well, one of us was successful today." Bea perked up at this news and Hill actually seemed to notice him for the first time. With a sense of pride, Croux placed his pokedex open on the table. They looked at the device and Hill spoke for the first time since they had sat down to eat, "A blitzle and a pidove?"

"Wow, you caught two pokémon today? Good for you, Croux," Bea said with a warm smile.

Croux cleared it throat and blushed a bit, "Thanks. The blitzle was a real challenge, but Winston went and beat the pidove without me. I thought it was dead when he dragged it back with him," he laughed.

Hill, still looking at the pokedex, suddenly choked on his food. Fighting the mouthful down, he gasped, "Winston evolved?!"

Croux's jaw dropped, this was news to him as well. He snatched up the device and read through it frantically.

*Trainer ID# 48722: Matthias DeCroux*

*Encountered Pokémon*

*Pokemon Territory Map*

*Pokemon Caught*

*Location Tracker*

Croux hit the button to see his current pokémon. It was true, at the top of the list the word ' **Dewott** ' was emboldened while the old 'Oshawott' was left a pale gray.

"He was an oshawott when I left him with the nurse…" he said in a daze.

Hill rose to his feet and proclaimed, "Let's go see, then," and set off towards the counter.

Bea smiled at the sight, happy to see Hill acting like himself. She waved her hand at Croux, "Go on. I'll watch our food." Croux offered a grateful smile and took off after Hill.

"I'm telling you, we can only release pokémon to their listed trainer," the nurse was explaining with an annoyed tone.

"And I'm telling you to have them ready because he'll be here in a second. Hey, there he is," Hill was arguing.

Croux jogged up and didn't bother apologizing for his friend's rudeness, "Hi, I'd like to retrieve my pokémon," he said handing over his ID.

The nurse scanned it and made a point of checking that the picture matched his face, "Your blitzle is still recovering, so we can't release him till tomorrow. The pidove was mostly just in shock so you can have him back now. And your dewott is still undergoing evolution, he'll need at least a couple hours to get used to his growth."

Croux deflated at the news, but nodded his consent. "Okay, can I have Prendick back?" He could see Hill in the corner of his eye, mouthing the name with a look of distaste. Croux ignored him.

"Well, at least it was confirmed," Hill consoled, "Let's meet… Prendick," he scowled as he said it out loud.

"Sorry it doesn't carry all the prestige of Memo," Croux mocked as they walked back to the their dinner.

"Please. Prestige is earned, not supplied. In ten years I bet Memo will become a highly respected name," Hill remarked haughtily.

The boys shared a laugh as they returned to the table. After a quick explanation to Bea, they continued their meal.

"I think we should do the triple battle," Croux suddenly spoke up.

"I thought you were the one against it," Hill said with a full mouth.

"Well, now I have more pokémon, and a stronger starter. Plus, an extra I can lend out to a friend if need be."

Hill was quiet while he thought about this. He was extremely hesitant to borrow one of Croux's new pokémon. They hadn't had enough time to build a relationship yet. But he didn't know if he would keep the audino. He had caught her under false pretenses. She had never even met him. He didn't like to idea of waking up to learn that someone captured you without your knowledge. No, once she's healed he'll let the audino go.

"There's still time, I'll obtain a second," he decided.

"Cress told us to schedule our challenge by tomorrow," Bea pointed out.

"Right. Schedule. It's not a walk in kind of deal," Hill clarified, "Even if they get us in right away, I'll have at least two days to find another pokémon. If not, I'll just use Memo. The rules don't say you HAVE to use two pokémon."

"So… are we in agreement? I can go schedule the battle tomorrow?" Croux asked.

"Go for it."

"I suppose."

That matter settled, and the group having relaxed a bit, Croux broached the next topic. "So people are saying some craziness went down in the Dreamyard today."

Bea's fork spun from her grasp. Hill paused momentarily, and then continued to eat nonchalantly, his cheer disappearing with the topic change.

"Something about a wild musharna bringing down its wrath. They say the whole area is off limits for anyone less than rank 5," Croux let the statement hang in the air, waiting for one of them to acknowledge it.

"Yup. Sucked," Hill said, not slowing his eating in the slightest.

Croux scowled, "That's it? You think you can act like nothing happened? This is serious, Hill! You can't brush me off!"

Hill looked at him placidly, "So it's only okay to hide things when I'm the one left in the dark?"

The other two at the table stiffened. "I saw your stitches, Croux. And even lillipup don't grow that devoted right away, unless the trainer does something big to earn their trust. I know something happened, and you two have tried to keep it from me for weeks," Hill clarified.

Bea and Croux were silent, neither bothered to deny it. "Hill-" "I'm not angry," he cut them off their apology, "not really. I know that if you kept from me you had your reasons." They exhaled heavily and settled back into their seats. "But," he continued, "I'm bringing this up because it goes both ways. I will not talk about what happened today, and I will not be pushed into it. I want to forget about it, pretend it never happened." He finished his last bite and stood, "I'm going to get a single room for tonight, and maybe tomorrow. I… need some time to myself." The teen walked away from their table, deposited his empty food tray, and left the cafeteria.

* * *

Croux and Bea were quiet for a while, staring at their cooling food. "We ran into some dream mist addicts," Bea began to explain.

"You don't have to…"

"I don't mind. It was bad, really bad, but whatever happened didn't seem to affect me as much as Hill. And… you deserve to know. And I'm going to tell him about Route 1, when he's ready."

Croux nodded and gestured for her to continue. "We found a man and a woman in the Dreamyard. They were hurting a munna, trying to extract dream mist out of it. We interfered, but couldn't get out before a musharna appeared. It created a massive nightmare attack against everyone in the building, and Hill and I lost each other. I don't know what he saw, or how he got out of it, but my own scenario was pretty bad." She was shaking slightly. Croux moved his chair to set next to her, placing his steady hand on her quivering one.

"I was at my dad's funeral, again. And I looked in the coffin. His actual service wasn't open casket, but it was in this time. He was already rotten. Like he had been recovered from the ocean. My mom was at my side, and she leaned on me telling me to give him a kiss. I didn't want to, but she forced me. As she pushed me closer, he opened his eyes. His mouth opened and bugs started crawling out. He stood from the casket and started chasing me, and all my family was trying to capture me and drag me to him. I started… killing them, so they wouldn't get me."

She had started crying again. She was sick of crying. "I snapped out of it and Hill was holding me tight. He got us out of there, Croux. He rescued me, found out pokémon, and figured out a way to escape the building. Don't be mad at him, he was really amazing."

Croux sighed, "I know. And he's right, about the secrets. I wonder if I should talk to him…"

"Let's leave him for tonight, at least."

"Okay. So, you want to look at the dessert options? My treat," Croux offered.

Bea smiled, "Absolutely."

[]

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* * *

*Pokedex Entries*

*Panpour – these pokemon are born blind for reasons unknown. Their sense of smell and hearing are far stronger as compensation. Their 'water sac' acts as a balance allowing for acrobatic movement.*

*Munna – Almost completely incapable of defending themselves. They flock to their more powerful parents, relying on them for protection. Popular among young children for their plush-like appearance.*

*Musharna – Their psychic awareness is strong enough that they can function even in sleep. Produce a byproduct that can cause vivid hallucinations. Some people condense these secretions for recreational use.*

* * *

~So, longest chapter thus far, by a wide margin. I feel like the past chapters are pretty short, so I'm reconsidering how I'm spacing out the story. I also wonder if I'm focusing too much on the human drama. Since no one is actually reading this yet to he point is rather moot. Oh well. Next chapter will have some pokemon battling, so there's that.~


	7. Chapter 7: Striaton Gym

~It was a big hassle getting this chapter out. I wrote it around December so I was too busy with finals and holidays to proof read and edit. When I did have time, my old laptop suddenly fizzled out and broke. It took a while but I managed to recover the hard drive and retrieve this chapter, along with some future content. Anyways, this is the first big pokemon battle thus far, hopefully it goes well. As always please feel free to leave reviews, I may not always agree but I am open to criticism as long as it's constructive. Thanks for reading. ~

* * *

 _[ This Saturday: A Once in a Lifetime Event! ]_

 _[ 6 Trainers, 9 pokémon, 1 battle! ]_

 _[ Come see your gym leaders take on three talented rookies! ]_

* * *

The guests were arranged in stadium type seats that were all turned towards the center ring. Hill and his friends were standing on a podium that looked over the arena. A slab of reinforced concrete was to be their battlefield. It was rectangular with about 100 feet between the trainer podiums. The entire thing, including where the trainers stood, was surrounded by a cube of transparent glass. It was several inches thick with fist-sized holes bordering around the top and bottom. It was clearly intended to allow for spectators to be close without being at risk from wayward attacks. Hill wondered exactly how much damage the glass was capable of, but reassured himself that none of their young pokemon would have the power to destroy it.

The trio stood on their podium trying to ignore the crowd sizing them up. They had been waiting for the leaders to arrive for some time, and they couldn't help but feel like this was intentional to make them nervous. Finally, a serious of cheers and applause signaled the leader's arrival. The brothers climbed to their position and waved to the audience without a hint of stage fright, their faces displayed on massive screens that hung over the arena. They were each carrying an item with them. Cress had a transparent piece of plastic with lines up and down it and letters written within each square. Chili was holding two small drums connected by a piece of wood, held up by a leather strap around his neck. And Cilan had a pair of binoculars also looped over his neck. The referee reached his own position, outside the box, and began the proceedings.

"Hello and welcome to all of our fine guests to our show! "The sound was muffled inside the glass cube, yet still audible to all inside. "We have a real treat for you tonight, all three Striaton gym leaders versus another group of three hailing from Nuvema town. Each leader shall be using only one pokemon while the challengers are permitted two each. But don't let that discourage you; this will still be a challenge even with the handicap. Our gym leaders have been battling together their entire lives, their teamwork is unparalleled. Can our challengers hope to win against masters of the art? Let's see!"

"Cilan, Cress, Chili, please reveal your pokemon!" The leaders released their pokemon, pansage, panpour, and pansear. This surprised no one; each gym leader was known to have preferences. Each monkey moved to a designated spot in front of their trainer. Cress positioned his plastic square so that it covered the arena, the lines dividing it into different sections that were labeled by the numbers within each square. Chili tapped out a simple rhythm on his drums and his pansear's ears twitched and it raised one arm, acknowledging the command. Cilan used his binoculars to focus on his pokemon, keeping a close eye on its condition.

"Now our challengers. Please release your first pokemon."

Each teen did as instructed, revealing the line-up for the first battle. Croux was on the left with a freshly evolved Winston standing ready, his legs splayed and his paws hovering over his scalchops like an old school gun slinger. Bea was in the middle with Ellie, her snivy, stretching her limber body in preparation. And Hill was at the right with his audino, Brighteyes, looking uneasy.

"An interesting collection of pokemon, eh folks?" the referee announced to hearty applause. "A quick reminder of the rules; once a pokemon has been called to its ball it is considered out and may no longer participate in the battle. If a trainer has no pokemon currently battling then they are allowed to assist their fellows for the remainder of the battle, this includes sharing strategy or suggestions. No healing items may be applied unless they are held by the pokemon or if it is an emergency, in which case it will be ruled a withdrawal. And lastly, any blatant attempts of lethal harm against the crowd, the enemy trainers, or their pokemon shall be considered a violation and result in being removed from the building. If there are no questions, then you begin at the sound of the alarm."

*BRRRRRNNTTT*

"Focus energy!"

"Wrap!"

"Helping hand!"

Winston immediately whipped out his scalchops and crossed them in front of him as he focused on increasing the flow of adrenaline in his body. Ellie sent out her two vines and wrapped one around the waist of each of her comrades, while Brighteyes lent her energy to increase her strength.

"Trevi, bite, A4!" Cress called out, glancing at the grid he had brought out. His panpour turned on Winston's location and set off towards him as energy gathered around its jaws.

Chili drummed out a beat on his bongos and his pansear responded by loosing a jet of fire towards Ellie.

Cilan simply commanded "Shrine, seed bomb the dewott," still focusing intently on his pansage with the binoculars. The primate reached into bushy tuft on its head and pulled out a seed the size of a peach pit. It lobbed it towards Winston. It seemed to bulge a glow in air as it approached his position.

"Ellie, left shield," Bea called out. Ellie pulled her left arm; the vine still wrapped around Winston, and yanked him away from where he was standing. He flew towards her, dodging the explosive seed entirely, and taking the fire attack head on with the armor covering one thigh. The otter shrugged off the weak attack and moved to flank the still approaching panpour. He slashed his shells across its side before it realized he had moved.

The attack wasn't very powerful against another water type, but Croux had at least expected to knock down his opponent. Instead the attack only caused it to stumble, allowing the opportunity to spin and sink its teeth into Winston's. Croux was wondering if he had underestimated his opponent, but then a clear note chimed in the air. Brighteyes was singing, and the sound of the heal bell seemed to bolster Winston so that he found the strength to tear the panpour off him and toss it across the arena. Now it became clear that his dewott had been burned by the pansear's attack. Thankfully Hill had noticed and healed it before it could do much damage. But now Winston was bleeding heavily from his bite wound.

"Eat Winston!" The dewott retrieved a sitrus berry it and been holding and promptly devoured it. His injury instantly ceased bleeding and the skin knit back together till it could no longer be seen.

"Hill-"

"Got it. Brighteyes, refresh."

The audino made a different noise this time and a pearlescent ball of light floated from her and traveled to settle on Winston. If needed, that orb can replicate the action of the berry and heal Winston again. Croux noticed another ball moving to Ellie, meaning she likely had eaten her leppa berry. It was taking all her power to move her allies around.

The gym leaders appeared more serious now. They hadn't been expected this level of planning and coordination from the rookie trainers, and now that had completely failed the first volley. They exchanged some words and agreed on their next move.

"Shrine, rapid launch seed bomb!"

Pansear began to fire continuous attacks at Ellie, leaving Winston busy guarding her and Brighteyes busy healing. Cilan's pansage started to grab fistfuls of the explosive seeds from its tuft. It tossed them not at their opponents, but towards its panpour companion. The panpour angled its mouth upwards released a stream of water into an arc in front of it. As the seeds approached they fell into the stream and were immediately propelled into the air by them. The numerous seeds arced down towards were all three opponents were grouped together. Fed by the nutrient dense water the seeds had doubled in size in that short time since they left their host.

"Deflect!" Croux shouted panicked.

Winston growled and swiped one blade across the vine at his waist, freeing his movement. He began to dance around the field in a series of flips and spins, using his shells and tail like paddles to knock back the seeds. For every one he managed to deflect another would explode right next to him. He consumed his healing energy several times, Brighteyes struggling to meet the demand, until the barrage finally ended. Bloody and panting, Winston crouched to catch his breath. The primates were also feeling tired, the panpour had run dry while the pansear was gasping as it let its flame restore, and the pansage's bush was left sparse and ragged.

The audience was roaring in approval at the display, but none of the trainers acknowledged the noise. Right now it depended on who could recover the fastest. Winston was exhausted and hurt, Ellie was burnt and missing a vine, and Brighteyes had exhausted herself to keep up the healing. If they could pull through then they could-

"Seed bomb rapid cannon!" Cilan suddenly yelled. His pansage managed another explosive seed and lobbed it to the panpour yet again.

"Trevi, water gun, B1," Cress commanded. A gout of water pulsed from his panpour towards Winston just as the seed entered the stream and was launched rapidly into the otter pokemon's chest.

The seed exploded on contact and the dewott was thrown backwards by the blow. He was left unconscious, but still breathing. Croux returned his pokemon with remorse. They had barely managed to hurt the agile monkeys, and so far only succeeded in tiring them out. He was preparing his next pokemon when another series of orders came through.

"Rapid leech seed."

"Water gun A2."

The pokemon prepared to repeat their previous maneuver on the two remaining opponents. Croux turned to Bea and hissed, "It's a leech seed!"

She nodded, "Ellie, bind Brighteyes! "

Once again her pokemon yanked on the vine growing from her arm, only this time she pulled herself towards her ally. Ellie wrapped her body around Brighteyes' just in time to shield her from the water gun and seed. The leech seed failed to attach to her plantlike body and fell uselessly to the ground, just like they hoped.

Then, they all noticed the echo of a solid drum beat as Chili finished giving his order. His pansear turned on the two pokemon and fired a powerful jet of fire right at them. Her body still coiled around the audino, Ellie was unable to evade the attack. She lit aflame immediately, the fire carrying to Brighteyes by proxy. Both pokemon screamed and scrambled for a moment before their trainers simultaneously returned them.

The crowd's applause was less enthusiastic this time, clearly unsatisfied with the quick conclusion. The Nuvema town trainers prepared their next pokemon and shared a look of agreement before releasing the new challengers.

Croux's blitzle instantly began to stomp its hooves in impatience. Bea's own panpour materialized much to the diner's delight. And Hill's pokeball released a large ovular form, on two legs. Memo weighed nearly fifteen times as much as his previous form. The pignite pounded his broad stomach in anticipation to test his new evolution.

Following the plan they laid out while training Helen climbed up and settled upon Bromden's head, nestled in his mane. Memo began to move behind his companions.

"Helen, use water sport."

"Bromden, thunder wave."

They had practiced this skill numerous times during their training, now they could only hope it performed as expected. Helen's water sport created a thick mist of water in the air, making everything humid and muggy. Giving it time to saturate the primates, Bromden fired a controlled jolt of electricity into the air. The energy was conducted through the air to hit their enemies and paralyze all three.

Taking advantage of their stunned opponents, all three pokemon moved forward to attack. Her attacks still lacking power, Helen merely focused on dousing all three to the best of her ability. Once done, she tapped on Bromden's skull to alert him that it was time, and then jumped in the air as high as she could. The blitzle stopped his rush and quickly fired a shock wave at the soaked monkeys. He couldn't use electric attacks while in contact with Helen, so he only had the brief period of her jump to attack. She landed nimbly onto his back and Bromden danced out of the way of the charging Memo. The pignite was much slower now with his heavy body and only two legs, but once he started moving he was near impossible to halt. Memo barreled through the frozen monkeys like a bowling ball, knocking them all asunder. Rather than losing his momentum by turning to attack again, he kept moving and curved around to return to his side of the field.

The three pokemon regrouped in front of their trainers, waiting to see their opponent's condition. Shockingly, all three primates managed to rise, with some difficulty. Getting ready to attack once again, Cilan beat them to it.

"Shrine, seed bomb, NOW!"

The pansage seemed to have trouble producing yet another seed, but was eventually successful. His panpour ally still unreliable, he opted to just throw this seed rather than try to launch it.

"Helen! Halt the seed, " Hill quickly cried out. Bea attempted to relay his command, but it proved unnecessary as Helen responded immediately and fired her water gun at the airborne seed. Her jet of water counteracted its energy and the seed fell to the ground. "Bromden, get away," Croux called, clearing his pokemon from the explosives path. Focused on his own pokemon, he failed to hear Hill's command to Memo. The fire-type moved for the seed as fast as his rotund body allowed, only to scoop it up and deposit it in his mouth.

Everyone fell silent as they watched the porcine pokemon, unsure what its trainer had in mind. The explosive capsule fell into Memo's body and was immediately directed towards his internal blast furnace. As the force of the explosion fed his flame his body swelled like a balloon. Looking ready to pop Memo turned towards their opponents and opened his maw. A torrent of flame burst from his mouth and raced towards the elemental monkeys. The column expanded into a cone with a six foot diameter that engulfed all three primates before they could attempt to dodge. The attack continued for a several seconds, inspiring shouts and screams from the audience as some fled the restaurant.

The flame died down to reveal a gasping pignite, two barely standing monkeys, and a charred pansage. The glass behind them glowed a dim orange as it quickly began to cool. Everyone was left stunned at the spectacle, until Cilan broke the calm by returning his pokemon. Without a word he quickly left the arena and darted to the back of the restaurant, no doubt to tend to his pansage. Hill followed his lead and returned his exhausted starter. Memo was entirely spent, all of his excess fat used to fuel the attack. Everyone waited for the gym leaders to act before they continued the battle. Both Cress and Chili could be seen conversing, Cress with one hand placed over his left ear in the universal sign of using a communication device. With a nod the remaining leaders turned back to the arena.

"Leaders Cress and Chili shall continue the challenge," the referee spoke to some applause, "Cilan and the challenger on the left have both been removed from the battle and may no longer participate. The leaders wish to inform everyone that both Cilan and his pokemon are fine and seeking medical attention. In recognition of the pause the challengers shall be allowed first move as we continue the battle."

The crowd settled down and some of the ones who ran returned now. Using the opportunity, Croux and Bea were discussing strategy before engaging in battle once again. Everyone watched enraptured as the young trainers approached the railing to continue.

"Helen, dismount and attack the fire type," Bea was the first to speak. Her panpour leapt from the blitzle's back and began to launch water guns are her target. Her aim was poor, the distance making it hard to find its position, but the attacks were enough to put the pansear on defense.

"Bromden, charge the blue one and use shock wave," Croux cried to his blitzle. The hoofed pokémon rushed towards the enemy panpour with electricity arcing over its fur.

Chili pounded out a rapid order on his drum, commanding his pansear to intercept the attack. The fire type did its best to dodge most of the water attacks as it threw itself in front of its partner. It absorbed the electric attack with a grimace and opened its mouth to retaliate.

As the fire monkey prepared to release some fire it was barreled down by the still approaching Bromden, who had used a quick attack to launch across the last gap of ground between them. The pansear was thrown back by the impact and crashed heavily into the glass border surrounding the arena. Her enemy unable to dodge, Helen was finally able to get a direct hit on the fire type. It wasn't long before Chili called back his pokemon and admitted defeat.

Cress was the only gym leader still in the battle. His pokemon was already worn down and no longer had any allies to assist it. But he wasn't about to concede just yet.

"Trevi, C2, get in close and attack the female physically," he yelled to his pokemon. The panpour ran towards Helen and tackled her to the ground. Using its greater mass and physicality the male panpour bit, licked, and scratched as its frail counterpart.

"I can't do anything without hitting Helen too," Croux said to a stricken Bea.

Bea watched in a panic as her young pokemon was brutally attacked. They had trained Helen to fight at a distance, she was ill suited for this physical fight. As Bea struggled to think her focus was continually derailed by Helen's screams. 'Damn it, I can't think while listening to that,' she thought, only for an idea to come to her.

"Helen!" she yelled as loud as she could, hoping to reach her pokemon through the frenzy, "His ears! Make noise in his ears!"

Helen marshaled herself and took in a deep breath, only to unleash a scream directly into her attacker's right ear. The male panpour recoiled in pain and flinched away from the sound. He created just enough distance so that they were no longer touching one another. Immediately, an arc of electricity crackled through his frame as Bromden attacked. The zebra pokemon turned and delivered a kick for added measure, sending their opponent across the arena.

As the shock ended the panpour was left with its fur spiked all around and tendrils of smoke rising from it. Just as it began to collapse forward a beam of red energy caught it, absorbing the pokemon back into its pokeball. Cress looked grim as he called back his pokemon, but managed a smile as he nodded his consent to the referee.

"All of the gym leader's pokemon are unable to battle! The challengers claim victory!" the referee cried out ecstatically.

The audience actually cheered once the battle ended, many leaping to their feet in applause. The three young trainers waved half-heartedly, embarrassed by the attention now that they were no longer preoccupied. They descended the podium and were quickly rushed to the back by restaurant staff.

* * *

They were left alone on a bench and told to wait. Someone offered to deliver their pokemon to the pokecenter, which they all complied with except for Memo and Bromden.

"Bromden wasn't really hurt, but why aren't you getting treatment for Memo?" Croux asked Hill with a quizzical expression.

"Memo doesn't really need medicine, he needs to eat," Hill responded as he shifted to a more comfortable position. "Pignite burn their body fat to fuel their fire, and he lost nearly all of his in that last attack."

"That attack was crazy! Were you expecting that?" Bea joined in.

"Not exactly. While you guys were practicing your water and electric combo I experimented with what eating different plant material did to Memo's fire power. I expected the attack to be stronger, but not nearly to that level."

"That's a good to hear. If it had been intentional I would have refused you a badge," came another voice from outside the room.

They all turned to meet Cress as he entered. He offered his usual polite smile as he took a seat across from them all. "My brothers won't be joining us, I'm afraid. Cilan is in mourning and Chili is comforting him."

"Mourning? What do you mean? The announcement said his pansage was fine," Hill's face had lost its jubilance.

"Sadly, no, it wasn't. Shrine's injuries were too much for him," Cress explained calmly, "If I didn't believe it was an accident then I wouldn't be giving you a badge. But, accidents do happen. Shrine isn't the first pokemon to die in a gym battle and he won't be the last. Please don't feel too bad."

They were all quiet as Cress placed their badges before them, alongside their money winnings and a paper sleeve with a disc inside. "Despite that it was an excellent battle. I want to thank you all for the challenge. The restaurant is going to the bustling for some time after this, hence the little token of appreciation," he said with a gesture to the CD. "This is a TM, a move that will allow your pokemon to boost their attack power in a less risky manner." He said this with a smirk, but the humor fell flat on the somber teens.

His smile became more genuine, as he rose and placed a comforting hand on Hill's shoulder. "I know you feel bad, and there's nothing wrong with that, but this is honestly all a part of growing as a trainer. As long as you learn from this experience, then there is no bad blood between us." He straightened up and looked at all three of them, "You all have talent, truly. I knew I was going to lose once Chili was defeated, but I had hoped to beat at least one of you. Few trainers get the grasp of teamwork so well, especially ones just starting out. You all can probably expect some autograph requests over the next few days," he ended with an actual grin.

Cress personally led them out a back exit to avoid the crowd. Along the way they met Chili who gave similar congratulations, though was noticeably cooler towards Hill. They never saw Cilan. The friends left the gym and returned to the pokecenter. Inside the TM pouch there was also a coupon for a free room and food service. They were all grateful to avoid the cafeteria, though the delivery guy request a picture as his tip.

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* * *

*Pokedex Entries*

*Pansage – incapable of vocalization, this pokémon communicates using a system of gestures. Rather than excess fat storage, their bodies condense any unneeded nutrition into a fruit that grows from their head. They have been observed to eat this fruit in times of desperation or to barter with it. *

*Pansear – this species has no developed inner ear. Rather than hearing, their large ears act like radars that detect vibrations produced by sound waves. This way they can interpret simple sounds. *

*Panpour – these pokémon are born blind for reasons unknown. Their sense of smell and hearing are far stronger as compensation. Their 'water sac' acts as a balance allowing for acrobatic movement.*


	8. Chapter 8: Wellspring Cave

*Chapter 8: Wellspring Cave*

* * *

"Roggenrola," Croux explained, "basically a hunk of stone that can only walk."

"I thought they could hear?" Bea looked at him skeptically.

"I mean, kind of," he relented, "but it clearly doesn't do them much good."

They watched the rock creature stumble around blindly crashing into every obstacle it could find. With every impact it would bounce off the surface like a pinball and start traveling back the opposite way that it started from. They had watched it walk for at least a minute, and it had yet to escape the square meter it was trapped in.

"T-k!" it made a noise and fired a fist sized stone that sailed over the teen's heads.

"Is it trying to hit us?"

"I bet it's all worked up by people we followed in here, and it can't tell us apart," Croux answered with a pitying shake of his head.

"Speaking of which, where could they have gone? This cave isn't that big," Bea murmured.

"Hmph. If this guy is the worst this place can offer, then they can be hiding anywhere," Croux gestured a thumb at the struggling pokemon.

"T-kk!" the roggenrola threw another rock, which bounced off a wall and clattered to the ground. The pokemon spun towards the sound and dashed forward, only to trip on a mushroom. It rolled to settle on one of its flat sides, and lay stuck with its knobby feet thrashing wildly.

"Ugh, I can't watch this anymore," Bea threw and empty pokeball at the pathetic scene. The ball barely twitched before emitting the chime of a successful capture.

"You caught that thing?" Croux cried aghast. "Geez, Bea, have SOME standards!"

"But then who put up with you?" she quipped.

"Har, har. If you're done with your charity case, can we get back to why we're here? The thieves are around here somewhere, and Hill going to come look for us if we take too long."

Bea maintained her smirk as she registered her new pokemon, but didn't argue.

"I have an idea," Bea drew out another pokeball and released Sam to her side. "Sam, see if you can smell any other humans in here."

Croux nodded in approval of the plan and summoned his own pokemon. The red light coalesced into the shape of a massive bird with fluffy feathers sticking out haphazardly. Prendick alighted on his trainer's shoulder, causing Croux to lean slightly. Bea giggled, "I'm never going to get used to seeing that."

"I'm 90% sure his father was a braviary," Croux said, aiming to stop her laughter. "It would explain the thicker plumage around his scalp, his hooked beak, and his larger than average mass."

"Did he also eat all of his siblings? Or maybe a bouffalant or two? Cause that thing is way beyond 'larger than average'," Bea commented sarcastically.

"You're just jealous," Croux petted his pidove, causing it to trill happily. It sounded less like a bird and more like someone trying to start a lawnmower.

"Just don't let him ride your shoulder too often. Otherwise you'll warp your spine," Bea admonished. "C'mon, Dino-rider, Sam has the scent."

Fifteen minutes later, Croux was wondering if it was truly necessary for Sam to smell literally every inch of the trail they were following. They had made little progress following the lillipup, who was moving at a slugma's pace. His shoulder was starting to ache under Prendick's weight, but he didn't want to give the Bea the satisfaction of him removing the burden.

The next second was a flurry of movement and sounds. First, Sam yipped in surprise and ducked back, a patrat lunged towards the dog with its massive teeth exposed and a screech, then Croux's vision was filled with gray as Prendick dove from his shoulder to grab the rat. Croux stumbled at the sudden shift in his balance. He reoriented in timed to see his pidove land on a stalagmite, still holding the frantic patrat in one of his claws. He swiftly crunched down his curved beak into the rodent's skull, killing it. His bird began nonchalantly ripping off chunks of meat from his prey, happy for the treat.

"I guess I should be grateful," Bea grimaced, "It's not impossible for a patrat to be found in a cave, buuut..."

"It probably belonged to one the trainers were following," Croux finished. "If they haven't tried anything yet then they're probably not here. You think they just left their pokemon as a distraction while they fled?"

"We were standing by the only exit. They have to be in the cave still."

He sighed, "Right. Let's get start searching again." _'Why did I get involved with this hassle?'_ he thought.

* * *

"Beasts! You are unfit to have pokemon!"

"You're the one that left your patrat behind to delay us," Croux countered placidly.

"He died to support our cause! His sacrifice will bring a greater future for his pokemon brethren!"

"So it's okay for you guys to treat pokemon like shit, only to preach at us? Do you even know how hypocritical that is?" Bea was less calm when confronting the grunts.

"We fight to preserve the pokemon's future!"

"Seems like they're the ones fighting while you cowards run and hide. How can you claim the high ground while you're mugging children?"

"We do what is necessary," cut in one of the other men.

"And that includes catching all the pokemon you can?," Croux said with a gesture towards a sac of pokeballs the last man carried over a shoulder, "That is the exact opposite of what you say you're against."

The loud one, clearly the leader, grew flushed before screaming, "You cannot understand our plans! Our way of thinking is beyond you."

"Heh, at least we can agree on that. Alright, enough talking then. Prendick!"

The pidove drifted down from whatever perch it was sitting on. Prendick settled in front of his trainer and eyed his opponents.

The man with the bag stepped back as his companions stepped forward and tossed down their pokeballs. Once the light faded there stood a blue humanoid pokemon stretching out its long arms. The other one summoned a throh to accompany the sawk. Croux and Bea shared a look; this battle was going to be more difficult than they thought. "Sam…" Bea looked unsure as her pokemon ran to Prendick's side. Croux caught Bea's attention before murmuring a strategy.

"I'll keep them distracted while you work up Sam."

She nodded her understanding and turned her focus on the field. The bulky fighting types were waiting for their smaller, agile, opponents to act first.

"Quick attack the red one and circle!" Croux called to Prendick. The bird jetted forward and rapped its beak on the throh's head before continuing his flight past his reach. The throh made a wild grab for him, but his oven-mitt hands only grasped air.

"Watch for it to get close," the man commanded to his sawk.

Sam looked ready to jump in but Bea called him back, "Sam, make distance and work up." Her pokemon looked disappointed but did as she said, drawing back and using the attack he was taught by a TM.

"Trip and whirl the red one." Prendick rose high into the air before twisitng his body and diving toward the throh again. The grappling pokemon raised its hands to its face, ready to catch the bird before he could attack again. Instead, Prendick swooped down before flying through the pokemons splayed legs, sweeping them out from under him. The pidove rose behind him and landed on the stooped pokemon's back. Following his trainers command, the sawk struck at the avian. Using quick attack Prendick dodged to the left. The sawk's fist thumped into the throh's back knocking him back into the dirt. Prendick turned around and performed another quick attack, clothes-lining his wing across the sawk's neck. Both fighting types rolled on ground as their prey flew away to rest on his trainer's shoulder, singing a mocking note.

The enemy leader was practically foaming at the mouth in rage. "Get up! Get up, damn you, and kill them!"

"Bulldoze!" The throh crouched down low and splayed its arms across the ground. It began to spin rapidly like a top, its arms sweeping up and knocking away all the dirt and rocks that littered the ground. Stones soared randomly through the air while a cloud of dust rose up and covered the field.

"Air cutter," Croux commanded. Prendick landed and forcefully flapped his wings. The gusts of air he created blew away the blinding dust just in time to reveal the approaching sawk. His stealth ruined, the blue pokemon swung his fist wildly towards Prendick. Croux's bird flapped even harder and buffeted his attacker with wind, just enough to slow down its attack. Prendick relented his assault and flew away, suffering only a glancing blow from the sawk. Before the fighting type could recover a feminine voice called out loudly, "Sam, advance," and a small canine re-entered the field.

Sam's body looked like it was made entirely of muscle. His legs bulged out making them seem twice as large as is normal. He moved stiffly as he was unaccustomed to this much power. A normal footstep would instead launch him off the ground, so he shuffled awkwardly towards the enemy.

The men called back their pokemon as they watched Sam like a live bomb. While far from speedy, his strength was elevated enough that any attack could be devastating. For every second they delayed the pup grew surer with his movements. The leader sneered in contempt at his partner, "Perhaps if we had some projectiles." His underling looked down sheepishly, his bulldoze had cleared the ground of anything they could throw. "I'll deal with it. Just be ready to defend my pokemon," the boss snorted humorlessly, "Ken, retreat and begin to bulk up."

"Shit, he's copying our strategy," Croux cursed, "We have to attack now before it gets too strong."

Bea nodded in agreement, "Sam, tackle the taller one." Her pokemon responded with a bark and began a more intent walk towards the sawk. Once he was close enough, Sam tensed his back legs and pushed himself forward. He was launched through the air at an intense speed, his head lowered and ready to collide with his opponent. Suddenly, another form placed itself in front of the speeding pokemon. The throh twisted its body as Sam collided with his chest. He moved with the blow and spun around in a full circle before throwing Sam back towards Bea.

Bea yelped in pain as Sam crashed into her. She was knocked off her feet by the impact and fell roughly to the ground. She lay flat for a moment with her eyes closed when she heard a familiar sound and Sam's weight was removed from her chest. She sat up with a groan to find that Sam was gone, apparently having returned to his pokeball.

"Bea! You okay?"

She winced as she stood back up. She slowly prodded her ribs, containing her scream once she found the bone that was loose. "I'm fine," she lied. _'Probably just bruised'_ she told herself.

"What now?" Croux looked to her. His plan of attack had failed, so now he was looking to her for ideas.

Bea reached for her belt, ignoring the jolt of electricity that came with the movement. Sam was out of the fight, and she needed to end this quickly.

"Ellie!" she called as the ball rolled from her hand, rather than being thrown. Her servine appeared and rose to her full height, using her tail for support more than her diminutive limbs.

"We need to throw everything we can at them," she gasped to Croux, "The throh is close to going down, then we can handle the sawk. Ellie, use vine whip!"

Ellie stretched out her arms and allowed for a pair of vines to creep down from each shoulder and encircle the appendages down to the wrist. The continued to grow past the wrist till they hung down to coil along the ground. With a cry Ellie twisted at the waist and sent the vines arcing through the air towards the fighting types.

The throh stood in front of the sawk like a goalie, its arms spread out wide to guard any openings. The four vines whistled as they approached only for the judo pokemon to grab them in the middle with both hands. The tips of the whips continued moving and struck him across the face, drawing tracks of blood. The throh planted its feet and pulled, yanking the vines free from their source and tossing them aside. A gray form smashed into his skull, causing him to stumble. Prendick retreated after his quick attack to create space once again.

"Bulldoze! Now!" the trainer cried.

The throh repeated the move once again, thrashing on the ground wildly. Most of the stones had been scattered after its last attack, so this time it mostly served to create another cloud of dust. Remembering what happened last time Croux commanded Prendick to blow away the concealment.

Once again, the fighting type had used the sand as cover to sneak up on its opponent. Only this time is was Ellie who was assailed. Unable to push the throh back Ellie was scooped up into its massive hands and raised overhead. The snake pokemon wriggled madly to escape, but there was no hope of breaking the throh's grip. In a final, desperate act, Bea calls "Lob seed."

Ellie manages to grow a sharp-shelled seed from her shoulder and pluck it with her teeth. She spits it, not onto to the enemy holding her, but into a lazy spinning arc towards Prendick. The bird watches the seed and spreads his wings wide. I moment after the reaches its peak and begins to descend, the bird pushes it with a gust of wind to bury itself into the upper arm of the concentrating sawk. The karate pokemon barely spares the attack a glance as the roots take hold. Within seconds a bulbous flower sprouts and blooms. With a gentle *puff* it sends out a cloud of spores which float aimlessly until they are absorbed by another flower, this one growing out of Ellie. The sawk's trainer throws a nasty look towards his subordinate angry that he hadn't completely defended his pokemon.

The lackey floundered for a moment, having lost his stride. Finally recalling his strategy he calls out, "Storm throw."

The throh began to spin rapidly on one foot. He picked up speed each time it stamped it foot, pushing off the ground to build his momentum. After a few seconds of this he ceased to look like a pokemon and instead became a massive top spinning fast enough that its features just turned blurred lines. Soon the throh was moving so fast that it resembled a tornado with a splash of green at the top. Suddenly the spinning stopped as the throh directed all of that centrifugal force into Ellie as he threw her across the cavern. The servine helicoptered through the air, her body still identifiable only as streak of pale green. She crashed through multiple pillars of stone, each one creating a sound like thunder, before becoming embedded within a wall.

"No!" Bea screamed as she scrambled for Ellie's ball, her own injury briefly forgotten. She sent the beam to fetch her starter and silently prayed that it would return. Pokeballs can only contain living matter.

She sighed with relief and a couple of tears as the ball successfully signaled a return. The leech flower she had grown drifted to Bea's feet as she was returned. Bea picked it up gently and rested it in a pocket. The pollen from the other leech seed was starting to grow visible in the air as the sawk continued to feed the plant. The restorative counterpart she held could be attached to any ally.

A thump sounded behind her and she turned to see the throh had collapsed, Prendick still hammering his beak against his foe's skull.

"I suppose that's good enough," came an unsettling voice. Bea's relief was washed away when she remembered the true threat they had been hoping to stop.

The lead man was far too happy for her liking. His sawk stood from its sitting position, flexing and stretching its body like after a long rest. Bulk up was an adequate name for what it had done. Its athletic physique was gone, replaced by a body of pure muscle fiber. Bundles of steel cable-like muscle pressed against its skin.

The sawk was clearly more accustomed to using this much power than Sam had been. It moved confidently in a sort of strut as it walked, rather than her pup's staggered steps. It casually approached a stalactite growing from the ceiling, completely unconcerned. It placed one hand on the tip and used the other to strike higher up the spike. A section of rock about a foot long broke away, leaving the sawk holding a conical piece of stone. It tossed the portion from hand to hand, judging its weight, when it settled it in one hand and eyed Prendick maliciously.

A chill ran down Bea's spine, "Croux, call back Prendick," she quavered. "Call him back now!" she screamed when Croux only looked at her bemused.

The sawk cocked its arm back and aimed at its avian enemy. It moved its arm forward like a catapult and fired the stalagmite at a frightening speed. The cone spiraled in the air like a expertly thrown football, the point spinning like a drill straight for Prendick's heart. A flash of red lit up the cavern as Croux called his pokemon back. The spiral continued through the air and shattered against the opposite wall. A splash of liquid and tuft of red feathers proved that Croux wasn't quite fast enough.

The evil man cackled manically as Croux adjusted the pokeball's settings. Bea saw him twist the ball into stasis mode, meant to preserve a pokemon's condition until it could receive medical attention. She did the same to Ellie's ball before retrieving Helen's.

Bea summoned Helen in tandem with Croux sending out Bromden. Helen clambered onto his neck like they practiced and Bromden charged towards their foe. "Slap-dash" Croux commanded and his blitzle picked up speed. Once he was only a few feet away he turned into a blur as he performed a quick attack. Bromden's large body crashed into the sawk, and Helen was flung from his head by the thrust to land on the fighting types face in a clawing frenzy.

But the sawk was unaffected by the assault. Bromden's charge failed to make it even budge from where it stood. Ignoring Helen's scratches, the fighting-type wrapped both arms around Bromden's neck like a hug. It then lifted the 400lb zebra up with ease and slammed it back into the ground. Bromden squealed in pain as Croux quickly returned him. There was no blood on the ground, but the earth was churned and upturned. Perhaps those bulldoze attacks did more than just make a mess.

Helen continued to slash at her opponent to no avail. Not a single attack managed to even break the skin on the pumped up sawk. The karate pokemon slaps his face like he was swatting a bug and Helen slides off him and falls limply to be caught by her pokeball return beam. Bea and Croux looked at one another unclear on what else they could do; none of their pokemon will be strong enough to win this battle.

"Futile, you see," the man chuckled aloud, "I'll admit that I am somewhat impressed by the effort, but I'm sure you're aware of your defeat." The smiled at them, but his eyes remained cold. "Impressed enough, in fact, that I can't allow you to continue antagonizing us."

Everything becomes silent as they regard that last statement. Even the other men with him look at their leader with blatant shock and even disgust. The throh's trainer steps up to his side and glares at him.

"They're beaten. Let's just take their pokemon and leave. They won't be a threat after that."

"Not good enough. They need to pay. They will be an example to others. People will know to stay out of our way."

"No! This isn't right. We are only supposed to help pokemon, not kill anyone we don't like."

There was nothing pleasant about the grin he showed his subordinate, "You think you can stop me?"

The other man looked unsure, but seemed to gather his resolve, "If I have to."

"Ken, deal with him," the leader commanded soberly.

A look of confusion was the only reaction the grunt had before a fist struck him in the sternum. He was thrown back to smash against the cave wall. There was no sound as the body slumped to the ground languidly, already dead. The other grunt screamed in terror and dropped the bag of pokeballs he had been carrying. He attempted to run but a gesture was all it took for the sawk to round on the human and chase him down.

His companions dealt with, the man slowly turned to look at the teenagers. His unpleasant smile had returned, accompanied by a mad glint in his eye. A flash of light and Winston stood on the field, his nose twitched as he glanced at the blood and death, before coolly settling his gaze on his adversary.

"I don't know what I can do," Croux quiet words are still audible the crushing silence, "I'll try to keep him busy." He instructs Winston to begin a series of tactics more meant to annoy than to actually defeat the sawk.

Bea watches as Winston blasts the sawk in the face with water and mud so that has to pause clean its eyes. If it tries to charge him blindly, he had plenty of time to dodge. If it tries to cover its face, he saturates the loose soil and traps his feet.

' _We can't win. Maybe we can run, it had to move slow do to the bulk up, but that would mean abandoning the stolen pokemon,' she thinks. 'Also' she looks at the frustrated trainer, 'We can't outrun him. And there's only exit to this cave. At least, that we know of.'_

This gives her an idea, although a desperate one. There is only so much human cartographers can know, and landscapes often change due to pokemon influence. Maybe there is a secondary path they can use that isn't on their map. She draws her last pokemon, one whom she figured would be more of a hindrance in a battle, but who is local to this cave. She moves away from the battle so as not draw attention and summons her brand new pokemon.

As her roggenrola coalesced from energy he immediately pivoted on his feet to face the sounds of battle. Before Bea can stop it the rock creature runs towards the sound, its path clear for once. It stopped when it ran into the unconscious throh that was left where it fell. Identifying a flesh target, the rock pokemon began to weakly kick and assault the comatose pokemon. Bea commanded for him to stop, when an idea came to her. They were desperate for help, and this throh had fought valiantly for his trainer. A trainer who was now dead.

' _The enemy of my enemy is my friend,'_ Bea thought as she began to search in her bag. She found what she was looking for and pulled it out. A simple plastic bag that fit in the palm of her hand. Opaque black prevented her from seeing its contents, but the red label ***REVIVE*** across the top told her what was inside. It was vacuum-sealed so that she could see the outline of an angular shape inside. She tore into the bag with her teeth and dumped the item into her hand. Upon contact with the air it grew firm and brittle. Careful not to crush it she ran to the unmoving throh. She crouched and lifted its head, grateful to see it still breathing. She clenched her fist to crumble the medicine like a fortune cookie. She held the fine powder under the pokémon's nose, watching as it inhaled the particles. Its eyes shot open and she had to move quickly to scramble away from it.

The throh rose to its feet with a jolt, the revive already stimulating its body into action. It noticed her and seemed to tense, but she stopped him with an outstretched hand, and then pointed at his deceased trainer. The judo pokemon saw his crushed trainer and the despair was evident on his humanoid face. He spun to face Bea enraged, but again she stopped it by pointing. It looked where she directed, seeing the engorged sawk fending off blasts of water from Winston. He looked back and forth between its blue counterpart and the crumpled body of his trainer. While it was distracted Bea placed the receiving flower onto its lower shoulder blade. The thin roots wormed their way into his flesh and anchored themselves. The bulb opened once again and began to suck in the pollen that had grown thick in the air. The throh started as it spun towards her, but froze once it began to feel the flowers healing effect. It looked at the girl, the anger in its gaze had turned to uncertainty. Bea struggled not to run, to not even look away. The throh broke the stare and turned towards the battle.

* * *

The other trainers noticed the approaching fighting type and had very different responses. Croux felt his stomach drop to his feet as his hopes for success were dashed. He hoped to at least keep the sawk busy long enough for help to arrive, or for the leech seed to completely drain it. However, if the throh had recovered then there was no way for Winston to fend them both off. For his part, the sawk trainer was thrilled when his ally rejoined the battle. The dewott had done well at fending off his pokemon, but this war of attrition was doomed now. Winston fired one last get of water into the sawk's face before retreating to his trainer's side.

The sawk wiped the water from his eyes only to find a new opponent waiting for him to recover. The throh had taken up a classic judo stance, its legs spread wide and flat with both hands up level with its shoulders. The sawk analyzed the threat for a moment, then nodded its agreement and prepared his own stance.

"What are you doing? Forget that waste, attack the brats," his trainer spat, only to be ignored. This was a rivalry that went beyond human understanding. A dance of combat that has been performed for generations. This exchange was in his blood, his core, central to what defined his species. The sawk would never refuse this battle, no matter what.

* * *

Croux watched this development is stunned silence. The fighting types clashed with each other in multiple exchanges only to stop once a blow is dealt. They then return to face off and take a new stance and begin again. Croux stared transfixed until a hand grabbed his shoulder and shook him out violently. He turned to see Bea standing next to him. She dropped a sloppy coil into his hands, one of Ellie vines that she had lost earlier. Bea quirked her head at the other trainer, who was spitting vitriol at his uncooperative pokemon. Without a word she turned and started on a wide curve to end up behind the man, with Croux and Winston following silently.

They approached from behind, their target having forgotten about them entirely. Croux crouched low and snuck as close as he dared while holding the middle of the vine with both hands. He saw the man take in a deep breath to yell again then leapt and looped the vine over his head, settling the tendril between his teeth like a gag. Unable to call for help the man thrashed, but both teens worked quickly to fully wrap him up tightly. After he was subdued they left him to struggle against his bonds and collected the fallen bag of pokeballs. They then ran from the scene as fast as they could, leaving the murderous man and the pokemon to fate.

[]

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* * *

*Pokedex Entries*

*Throh – entirely male, this pokémon primarily breeds with the gothitelle line in the wild. Like many humanoid pokemon they clothe themselves in garments of their own make. Trainers will often provide other options to the ragged skins and furs that wild pokemon use. *

*Sawk – they compete with their throh cousins in the pursuit of mates. Like with other fighting types, humans mimicked their style to create certain martial arts. Though they originated the art, they lack the creative thought to improve or change their tactics.*

*Roggenrola – This pokémon relies entirely on its hearing ability. It conical 'ear' absorbs sound which vibrates a series of smaller stone-like organs inside its body. This lack of perception and its tough body makes it behave recklessly. *

*Pidove – The size and thickness of the cere over their beak indicates the quality of their genes. They flock to highly populated cities to survive off discarded food. They return to the wild when they have grown enough. *

* * *

~I had already planned on Bea having a roggenrola, so this chapter was only meant to introduce him. At least, that was how it started. I decided I wanted this to be a serious conflict where a pokemon battle was central. I don't count the gym battle as there was no major risk there, and the stuff at the Dreamyard didn't have any pokemon battling. Either way it evolved to a much larger chapter than I had originally intended. By the end I was tired and just wanted to finish the chapter.

I also changed what pokemon the Plasma grunts used to add a little variety. If I followed the game then it would a battle with three patrat. Boring. So I mixed things up a little. Originally I was going to use a Basculin and Woobat since both are available in Wellspring Cave, but decided the fighting types would be a better duo for a double battle. I also tweaked what attacks the pokemon can use. Technically lillipup can only learn sand-attack by breeding, but logically I feel that a dog doesn't require a genetic predisposition in order to learn how to kick up dirt. The same can apply for TM moves, like bulldoze. I'll allow the game's plotline to limit our protagonists, but I don't want to restrict what everyone else's resources like that.~


	9. Chapter 9: Nacrene City

*Chapter 9: Nacrene City*

* * *

 _"Good morning, everyone, I'm Paul Simmons. Our first story of the day, and update on the cave-in at Wellspring Cave. Viewers will remember our coverage several days ago when we reported that a massive collapse had occurred within Wellspring Cave. All entrances were blocked by debris and rescue efforts have only just managed to reach the main chamber of the cave. We take you now to Abigail Martins, who is on scene at the cave. Abby…"_

 _"…Paul I'm outside Wellspring Cave along route 3 near Striaton town. For the last five days rescue workers have been working to clear rubble out of the cave to see help any trapped people or pokemon. It is still too unsafe to allow civilians inside, but we have Commander Hawe of the Poke Rangers here to speak with us. Commander, have any trapped individuals been located thus far?"_

 _"We haven't found any people trapped at this point time. We have freed a number of roggenrola, who thankfully seem no worse for wear after the cave-in. Sadly, the remains of at least three humans have been found whom were crushed when the cave collapsed. That's all we have for now."_

 _"Thank you, Commander. The remains in question were unidentifiable in their current condition, but this reporter was able to recognize one thing about them. All three seemed to be wearing uniforms from the activist group Team Plasma. As for what they were doing in there, only time can tell. Back to you, Paul…"_

 _"..anks Abby. This situation isn't all bad news, fortunately. A local pokemon center informed channel 11 that a great deal of the wild-life in Wellspring Cave had been rescued shortly after the collapse occurred. Three young trainers from Nuvema supplied the pokecenter with almost a hundred captured pokemon that they recovered from the scene. The kids asked to remain anonymous, but -"_

Hill turned the TV off, fuming. "They call that anonymous?! That jackass practically gave out our home addresses!"

"Hill…", Bea started, "Relax. They didn't do it out of malice, and they did keep our names and photos secret."

"Hmph. Right, they only identified us as three people from town of 300. I'm sure the murderous zealots who just lost several members cause of us won't take the time to piece that information together."

"You weren't even there. Why are you the one getting so worked up?" Croux added placidly.

Hill jumped to his feet, his fists balled in anger. He was trembling as he faced his friend, only to grab his pack, heading for the door.

"Hill, don't-" Bea called, but the slamming door cut her off.

* * *

Hill had stormed out of the hotel only to realize he had no destination. He was still frustrated. He wanted to hit something. Something he could be angry at other than himself.

He wandered around the city for a while until he stopped at a bakery that marketed to trainers. He was sitting at an outside table with his pokemon picking at a stale cinnamon roll when he heard the voices of children. He looked to see a small school bus emptying in front of a large brick building. Words across the archway read [NACRENE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM AND PUBLIC LIBRARY] *& pokemon gym*. The last part added by a faded yellow banner that had been hanging for some time.

 _'Its better than going back to the hotel,_ ' he decided and split his leftovers between his pokemon.

Aside from the field trip, the museum was largely empty. There were aged volunteers standing by looking to share their knowledge and the occasional employee walking with a purpose, but visitors were sparse. Hill felt awkward trying to avoid eye contact with the eager docents as he navigated the exhibits. Among the numerous fossils there were ancient tools and even a large spherical stone that paleontologists theorized was some sort of gastrolith, or stone swallowed by ancient creatures to help them digest their food.

At the center of large room was a massive skeleton of some draconic being. Propped on all fours its tail stretched high into the air. A series of thin bones hung overhead presenting a 40ft wingspan. Its eyeless skull stared directly at Hill, a sharp-toothed grin displaying fangs longer than his hand from fingertip to wrist. A single horn sprouted from its forehead and extended almost three feet before coming to a broken tip. For comparison there was the skull of a dragonite, its closest modern relative according to the placard, encased next to it. The dragonite skull was roughly a third of the size and flat teeth near the back for chewing ocean plants. The horn was laughably smaller, only a few inches long. The nostrils were wider and more roun-

"Most young people are interested in the big one, y'know."

Hill spun to find the immediately recognizable form of the museum curator, head librarian, and local gym leader.

Lenora was large for a woman, over six feet at least. Her afro-like mass of hair only added to her height. She wore smock made of thick fabric with several rows of pockets across it. The pockets contained items from small tools and electronics to stacks of handwritten notes.

"Oh, well, um. I was just thinking about, well, like, evolution stuff. Like, what changes the species went through to, uh, turn from that-" he gestured to the fossil, "into that," he pointed at the dragonite skull.

Hill blushed in embarrassment over his stumbling words while Lenora regarded him. After a minute she smiled and took a step forward, pushing on his shoulder to turn him back towards the bones.

"Well, for starters, the ancestor here was strictly land based while dragonite spend most of their lives in water. The wings were more for gliding than actual flight. I'm sure you noticed the teeth, the ancient species were predatory while-"

"Dragonite are omnivores," Hill supplied.

"Exactly," Lenora grinned. "In fact, if you look at the feet, oh-" she stopped, apparently realizing that the isn't a full skeleton for comparison. "Hmm... come with me." She tugged on his shoulder to get him walking behind her. They walked past all the exhbits and the stairs leading to the library to take him to an inconspicuous door. She dug in her numerous pockets until she pulled out a card key pass and held the door open to Hill.

He stepped through and found himself in a massive white lab even bigger than the museum. Lenora passed him and he followed her as she approached a wall of glass, each large pane of which contained an environment with a handful of pokemon walking around.

There were four separate ecosystems that were vastly different. One was flat with packed, sandy, earth and large boulders strewed around. The next resembled a swampland with deep pools of murky water and damp mud. The third was filled with trees and bushes, spotted with shallow puddles. The last room was barren with nothing of note except the black colored soil.

"Are you familiar with how fossil restoration is performed?" Lenora interrupted. "We find a sample with viable DNA remnants and create a lifeform with the remaining genes. However, not every strand of DNA can be recovered, so we borrow the missing portions from their nearest modern ancestor."

She stepped up to the glass walls and gestured at all the creatures within. "These are our best attempts at restoring tirtouga. We used their the four species we could find most closely related to the ancient pokemon." She pointed to each room and explained, "Torkoal, squritle, turtwig, and turtonator."

She stepped up to the habitats and gestured at all the creatures within. "These are our best attempts at restoring tirtouga. We used their the four species we could find most closely related to the ancient pokemon." She pointed to each room and explained, "Torkoal, squritle, turtwig, and turtonator."

She moved to stand before the turtonator room, the one that no obvious landmarks. "This variety acts like ambush predators, hiding themselves in the loose soil and waiting for prey to venture close. Tirtouga are a water based species, but these individuals thrive in areas far from large bodies of water." She walked to the next enclosure, the one she identified as containing the turtwig subspecies. "This line inherited more behavioral aspects from their modern parent. They eat only plants, mainly roots. They are poor swimmers but enjoy wallowing in shallow water." She moved again. "Thus far we suspect that the squirtle genetics work best to complement the tirtouga DNA. It makes sense, considering both species are water-types. They spend most of their time in deep water where they can move much faster. They can survive on land without problems, but their weight makes it difficult for them to move faster than a crawl. Their diet is largely shellfish, but they will eat just about anything they can catch. And these," she sighed as she approached that last habitat, "are our torkoal based tirtouga. I'm afraid this line is considered a failure, thus far. They keep trying to eat things that are only appropriate for a pure torkoal, but are dangerous to anything that lacks a blast furnace in their stomach. I'm afraid we might have to euthanize them all soon, " she said with a pained expression. She stood and watched the creatures in question, which slowly plodded along on shaky legs.

"Um," Hill spoke up, "This is all very interesting, but why did you bring me back here?"

She spun and looked at him like she forgot about her audience. "Because I knew you would appreciate it, of course. This is too complicated for the younger children, and the only older kids we get are trainers looking for a rare pokemon to show off."

Hill could feel heat in his face, "well, I am actually a trainer. But I swear I didn't come here looking for a handout," he added when she looked hurt.

Her face turned skeptical, "So you're saying if I offered you one of these rare tirtouga, you would refuse?"

"I'd be lying if I said I had no interest. But it's still not the reason I visited the museum. Plus, I really don't deserve such a rare gift."

"Wait, I recognize you now. You were one of the kids involved in that three-way battle at Striaton, weren't you?"

"Oh, yeah. That was me and my friends."

"Where are they now?"

"In our hotel room, I think. I kind of stormed off about an hour or two ago."

Lenora pushed some papers aside on a desk before sitting down and looking at him with concern, "Stormed off? Did you get into a fight?"

Hill sighed, "No. It's just… well. They got into something dangerous a couple days ago, and it's been bothering me."

"You're upset that they were almost hurt?"

"No. Well, yes, but that's not the problem. I feel, like, things wouldn't have gotten bad if I was there to help."

"So you feel guilty? Shame? What were you doing while they were in trouble?"

Hill blushed again, "Babysitting. Sort of. More like making sure a little girl was safe."

"It sounds like that was important. You shouldn't feel bad when you trying to help."

"Okay, but it's the reason why I stayed behind. I didn't do it because I was concerned for the girl. I mean, I was somewhat, but that wasn't the big reason…"

Lenora stayed quiet, waiting for him to continue.

"I was scared," Hill couldn't meet her eyes. "Last time I, um…"

"Got into danger?" Lenora supplied.

"Right. Last time, it got really… unpleasant. So I stayed behind while they chased the people that threatened the girl. And… I lied to do it."

It was silent for a moment; the only sound was the whirring and hum of delicate machinery.

"I told them my pokemon hadn't fully recovered," Hill admitted. "My friends almost died, and I let fear stop me from being there to help them." He concluded still staring at his feet, feeling his eyes grow hot.

"Is that why you think you don't deserve one of these tirtouga?" Lenora finally asked.

"Mostly, yeah. There's a only couple dozen of the species, you shouldn't give one to someone who hasn't done anything to earn it."

Lenora approached and put her hand under his chin, lifting his head to look at her. She smiled softly, "Hmm, you really are still a kid, aren't you?"

She dropped her hand and stepped back. "Are your only pokemon the pignite and audino?" At his nod she continued, "Then how about this. I will give a challenge, and if you complete it I would say you have proven to have earned a prize."

Hill wiped his eyes and regarded her quietly, so she kept going. "For my gym battle, I want you to not use your pignite. If you can win in a 3v2 battle without your most powerful pokemon, I would consider that rather impressive. Enough so that I would be willing to give you one of our fossil pokemon."

Hill looked incredulous, "You'll give me a tirtouga?"

"Oh no, they aren't ready to be released to the public yet. But you can have one of the other species." With that she started walking and gestured for Hill to follow.

They approached a massive atrium filled with clusters of brightly colored birds. While clearly the same species, there was a variety of different bodily traits among the creatures. Different shades of color among their plumage, longer neck lengths, wider wing spans or sharper talons.

"These are called archen. We think they are the common ancestor to all bird pokemon existing today. Obviously we have many more options available for supplementing their DNA, so there's a lot more diversity than the tirtouga."

Hill stared in awe at the birds as they moved about the enclosure. Oddly, even though they were all mixed together, the birds still seemed to group with others that share their unique traits.

"They have powerful pack instincts, so they actually acclimate well to working with humans. They are intelligent and remain servile to whomever they see as their leader. We think they're ready to be introduced to the outside world, we just needed some trainers we felt we could trust."

Hill met her eye, and she answered his unspoken question. "Yes, I think you can be trusted. As long as you promise to send me updates and information about your archen, I think you'll be worthy. So what do you say?"

Hill stopped to think it over. It was an exciting prospect, but it would difficult to meet her challenge. He would have to catch at least two more pokemon, maybe three if Brighteyes wouldn't fight, and train them well enough in a short time to be able to defeat a gym leader. He was a little afraid of the test, so he knew what that meant.

"Can I pick which archen I want?"

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* * *

*Pokedex Entries*

*Archen – formerly extinct, this species has obtained a limited wild presence. While considered the ancestor to modern birds, this pokemon can only fly small distances. Acting like a pack, the young follow the orders of a stronger adult while hunting. *

*Tirtouga – this pokémon was once a top predator in its environment. It was capable of sinking into deep ocean water were most creatures were poorly equipped to fight it. An ambush predator, it would lie in wait for prey rather than try to pursue them. *

*Dragonite – their wings can take years to grow enough to allow for flight. Until then this pokemon launches into the air with its powerful legs and glides. They will use their horns during powerful dive-bomb attacks.*

* * *

~Alright, sorry for the long wait for update. I'm still pursuing a degree so I can't always devote the time to stop and write for a while. I'm currently off right now so I hope to get a couple of chapters prepared for later so it won't be such a long wait next time.

P.S. Obviously I borrowed/stole the science behind fossil reviving from Jurassic Park, so I'll be upfront about that. Sorry if it was too blatant, but I liked the idea of them differing based on which pokemon was their other "parent" if you will.


	10. Chapter 10: Outside Pinwheel Forest

*Chapter 10: Outer Pinwheel Forest*

* * *

"Andy! Quarter left, high fire!"

Andy pivoted to his left and launched a series of small rocks in spread high in the air. They thudded against the padding in the walls and fell to the ground uselessly, but that was expected.

"Now, turnabout and low fire!" Bea ordered.

The roggenrola eased onto his backside and kicked his legs so that he spun 180 degrees and was now facing where his back had been. He shuddered before releasing a boulder as big as a bowling ball to bounce across the floor before colliding with more cushioning.

"Good job, Andy. Let's take a break. You want a treat?"

Andy spun again to face the direction of her voice and started to amble across the room. Bea reached into a bag of colorful stones and drew out a handful. Sorting through them she selected a large peach colored one and dropped it at her roggenrola's feet. Andy seemed to consider it, before falling flat on top of the rock and engulfing it into his body. He then wobbled back and forth until he managed to right himself back to his feet. Bea smiled, she had learned to not help him rise, and petted his 'horn' gently.

"I'll admit, you've managed some progress with him." Croux commented from a chair, "Do you think you'll use him when you challenge the gym?"

Bea stood and he offered her the seat. It was the only one in the small training room. She sat gratefully, "I'd like to. He would certainly have an advantage, but I would have to evolve him first."

Croux leaned next to her, "Yeah, with how fast Lenora's pokemon are you can't have that delay between his attacks."

Bea smiled, "But at least he's good enough that I can train him against slower pokemon. Once he evolves I won't have to direct him constantly." She noticed Croux checking his watch, again. "… Maybe we could call him?"

He shook his head and scowled, "No. If he doesn't want to talk he'll just ignore it. I just wonder what he's doing. You don't think he'd go into a wild area alone, do you?"

"You did. And you came back with two new pokemon."

"Okay, fair point. But there are more dangerous pokemon here than just pidove, and he isn't completely recovered from his fall."

Bea winced and put a hand over her own ribs, "Don't sell him so short. I only bruised a rib and it hurt like hell. I don't know how he continues to do half the stuff he does." She stood up and put a hand on Croux's shoulder, "I'm sure he's fine. He may get into trouble but he doesn't actively search for it." She smiled devilishly, "Here's an idea. Rather than wait around here all day we find some trainers to help us afford dinner?"

* * *

Finding a new pokemon was not going well. Among the limited options Hill couldn't help but reject most of them immediately. He was doing this for a unique flying type already, so he wouldn't bother catching a pidove. Even though he wasn't involved with the altercation he still wrote off throh and sawk as possibilities. And while he appreciated Brighteyes, he didn't think a second audino would be of use. That left him with one option, which is why he was stooped next to a pond holding a large net.

All of the tympole he had managed to scoop up didn't meet his requirements. He had to train this thing to match a gym leader in battle in less than a month, so he couldn't waste his time on a timid or placid pokemon. Unfortunately, tympole were commonly eaten by just about everything in the area and they didn't do too well outside of water, so their first reaction to being caught was to try and flee. After the first few disappointments Hill decided to have Brighteyes defeat any weak tympole he found, thereby training her and weeding out the weaklings.

He had been doing this for an hour and a half already, and just as he was going to renew his net rental he saw movement in the water. He swept the net to try and catch it, but the form dodged away and sprang from the water and hit him in the face. Warm blood cut through the cold of the water as his nose started to bleed heavily. He scrambled blindly on all fours to make some distance before wiping the pond muck from his face.

When he could see again he located the tympole. It was the size of a partially deflated basketball, putting it several times larger than his previous catches, and its face was glowering at him in anger. As he rose to his feet the tympole opened its mouth and sound like a popping balloon reached his ears at the same time as he was hit by an invisible wall that shoved him back to the ground. Brighteyes moved to stand before him and took the brunt of another round attack. She managed to stay standing and rushed the tympole, slapping him multiple times with both arms. The tympole rolled away and took in a deep breath and launched a stream of bubbled towards the audino. Each one hit her like a tiny explosion and Brighteyes screamed as she was thrown back.

Hill was standing again and reached for Memo's ball, but hesitated. _'She has to learn to fight'_ he told himself. "Brighteyes!" he called, "Use attract!"

His audino looked at him for a moment clearly scared, but her faced hardened and she faced her opponent. Her already large eyes expanded and glistened as she faced the tympole, she brought one hand to her mouth and made a soft whimper. The tympole slackened slightly and its face turned from anger to bemusement.

 _'Well we know its male, at least'_ Hill thought. "Now. Start using secret power."

Brighteyes clapped her hands together and drew them apart with a translucent orb or energy forming between them. Once the orb was as big as her head she took it in one hand and lobbed it across the ground. As it traveled the energy took on the color of the surroundings. It crashed into the tympole and flung him backwards, back into the pond.

"Dammit!" Hill cried. _'That one was perfect'_ he bemoaned to himself. Sighing he collected his pack and dug around for a potion for Brighteyes when he heard several splashes. He turned around excitedly, only for his stomach to fall to his feet.

The large tympole had returned, but it brought three of its smaller brethren with it. One of the small ones opened its mouth and Hill was shoved by a weaker version of the sound attack he had felt earlier. The second one opened its mouth and he collapsed to the ground as his knees felt weak. _'Round'_ he thought _'Significantly powerful when used in groups'_. The third one attacked and all sound and thought was replaced by a high pitched ringing. 'Hill struggled to lift his head under the round assault and could only look as the large tympole took in a breath. Its body expanded with air and Hill knew that he couldn't survive the coming concussive blast. He faced his doom, unable to move away…

The tympole paused. It looked at the audino, who had been flattened to the ground. Her face was twisted in pain and determination as she fought to stand up. Impressed, the tympole found he couldn't attack her. Instead he hopped forward and turned to face his brothers. He unleashed his attack and its forced scattered them back into their home. He rolled to cover the audino with his body. He vibrated gently in an attempt to soothe her. She looked confused but didn't resist. As the tympole was focused on comforting her, he failed to notice the human approaching. His suddenly felt warm all over and he was drawn away into a place that made him want to relax. "Now stay in there," he heard distantly, and decided to obey.

"Now stay in there," Hill pleaded as he retrieved the net ball. There was no resistance as it clicked shut with a soft ding. Hill sat roughly on the ground and used the potion he had been retrieving on Brighteyes. He caressed her head and told her how well she had done, before returning her to rest in her ball. He released Memo with a command to be wary and collected his pokedex. He registered his new ally and got to the screen for providing a name. He stared out at nothing as his frazzled brain worked to come up with creative thought. He could only focus on the expanse of water before him and the ache in his battered body. Shrugging his shoulders he typed in * **PONDOW** *.

* * *

"Hey guys. Come in here." Hill's voice called as Croux and Bea entered the room. "I want you to meet someone."

They shared a look with one another before approaching the bathroom. Croux opened the door to find Hill crouched over a small basin filled with water. Sat in the middle was a dark blue lump that turned indifferent eyes towards him as they entered. "I caught a tympole," Hill happily explained. "A big one," Bea commented. "Yup. But the nurse says he's normal, just nearing the end of his adolescence," Hill explained, "But he must have been top dog among his pod."

"Impressive," Croux said coolly. He wasn't about to forget Hill's outburst that morning. Hill sighed and pushed himself to stand. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for how I acted today."

"Hill, it's fine," Bea started.

"No. It isn't. I was upset at myself and I lashed out because of it," Hill continued, "I've had some time to think and I recognize that I was wrong, and I'm sorry."

Croux relaxed some of the tension he had been holding, "Are you feeling better?"

"I think so," Hill answered. He made an awkward smile before meeting Croux's eye, "Though, you should probably know, I scheduled my gym battle for August 3rd." Croux blinked as he did the math on that statement, before looking at his friend incredulously, "That's almost a month from now! Are gym reservations that backed up?"

Hill looked sheepish, "Not really. But I felt I needed that time to prepare."

Both Croux and Bea looked at him blankly. This would mean spending a ton of time stuck in Nacrene. Croux grew frustrated, but swallowed it. _'Just accept it'_ he told himself. "Fine," he replied curtly, "I guess we can use the break from traveling." _'Even though we've only been traveling for about 5 weeks'_ he didn't say aloud.

Bea attempted a smile, "I guess I'll be able to evolve Andy in that time, at least."

Hill looked embarrassed, "I'm sorry guys. I just really felt like I needed the time. Memo is my only battle hardened pokemon and I thought I should -"

Croux held up a hand, stopping him. "We said it's fine. Let's just move on." Looking for a new topic of discussion he noticed the island of blue skin still sitting in a pool of water. "Tell us about your new pokemon."

Hill grinned excited, "Okay! Well, it's not much of a story to begin with, but it gets pretty intense near the end."

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* * *

*Pokedex Entries*

*Tympole – Large clutches of eggs are left to mature on their own. While it can breathe air, it is very difficult for tympole to move outside of water. They are a common prey for local predators. *

*Pignite – With evolution they gain a massive boost in muscle mass. This makes the transition from quadruped to biped far easier. They can release a vaporous cloud from their pores that is highly flammable. *

*Dewott – it battles mainly using its lower half. Its legs defend from attacks using their stony growths as armor. It large flat tail is employed as a secondary weapon for attacks and blocks.*

*Servine - They rely less and less on their arms and legs. The limbs become more vestigial and atrophied before eventually falling off entirely. They are large enough now to hunt smaller prey. *


	11. Chapter 11: Pinwheel Forest

Memo allowed his arms to hang as he groused loudly. "Oh, knock it off," Hill admonished, "I know you don't like the weights, but their important for training. Look, I'm even going suffer with you," he said as he finished cinching the last strap to his arm. Memo groaned again, his arms continuing to dangle as the weighted gauntlets pulled on them. "Of course you have to use more weight than me, you're a super strong pokemon while I'm only a weakling human," Hill responded with a grin, "Plus, this room doesn't have multiple gauntlets of the same weight."

Memo remained silent, but still looked at Hill like a kicked lillipup. Hill sighed, "It's called resistance training, and it will help you in the future. Someday you're going to evolve again and become far heavier, stronger, and slower. If you learn how to fight with an extra 60 pounds now it'll prepare you for your future. Look at Brighteyes and Pondow," Hill gestured to the two other pokemon in the room, "They're both working hard." Brighteyes was doing reps with a pair of 10 lb dumbbells, while Pondow was lifting a large weight with his tail.

Memo grumped again but lumbered over to the combat dummy that had been lowered to his level. He hefted up his weighted arms into a semblance of a boxing stance. Hill nodded and faced off his own mannequin. "Okay, remember that your best technique is that of a slugger. You want to put a lot of power into your blows so that you can end a fight quickly. Put your weight behind them so that it can work for you, rather than relying on only muscle." He demonstrated the technique in a series of hard punches to his dummy. Memo tried to imitate him to some success.

"Good," Hill commended. "Let's keep it up and then we can-." A gurgling noise interrupted him. He turned towards the sound to see Pondow glaring at them both. The tadpole made a series of croaks and pops, none of which Hill understood. He looked to his starter, the only one of his pokemon that he was gaining an understanding of how it communicated. Memo responded to the glance with a translation of Pondow's words.

Hill faced the water-type skeptically, unsure if he had understood the request. "You want me to teach you how to punch?" Pondow tipped his body forward slightly in an awkward imitation of a nod. Hill stared perplexed for a moment, before throwing his hands up in exasperation and crying, "You don't have arms!"

Pondow gave a lengthy response and Memo was relied on to translate again. Hill rubbed his face in annoyance, "Well when you grow arms, THEN I will teach you how to punch. But right now I want you strengthening your tail and core muscles." Pondow gave a sharp retort. Hill snorted, "Well, if you think that this is too easy your free to move up to a greater weight."

Pondow met the eye of his trainer, as well as the other two pokemon in the room, before puffing himself up (he literally swelled up like a balloon) and rolled across the floor to a much larger dumbbell. Hill stepped up close to watch as the tadpole wrapped his tail around the handle and began to strain. The water-type set its mouth in a firm line and closed its eyes as he struggled. Hill sighed quietly and stretched out his leg to hook a foot under the handle. He lifted his foot helping his pokemon to raise the weight up high. Pondow croaked in triumph and dropped the weight before turning to look at his trainer with a sense of smug pride. Hill couldn't help but laugh.

"Fine, fine. I guess we've trained enough the last couple of days." All of his pokemon nodded emphatically. "What say we take a day outside?" Hill offered. His three pokemon made cries of excitement at the proclamation and began to celebrate, the bipedal pair lifting their new member into the air. Hill watched their jubilance with a smile. _'I do need to look for another member'_ he thought to himself.

* * *

Hill didn't have any certain pokemon in mind when he entered Pinwheel Forest. Unlike the outer area he would like to catch almost any of the available species. A petilil would be nice, except that they tend towards timorous behavior. Ideally he'd like cottonee, which were known for being daring and if overtly mischievous. But after two hours of searching he would be glad to find ANYTHING.

Pinwheel Forest was supposed to be teeming with pokemon. Hill thought that at the very least he would get a chance to train his team, but they had yet to encounter a single pokemon. He heard rustling in the foliage, and saw flashes of movement as they ran, but no pokemon would get within twenty feet of him. Wondering at the strangeness of it, he continued to search, even sending his pokemon out hoping their superior senses would be of use.

He walked along when something in the corner of his eye caught his attention. A flash of white, completely alien in this sea of greens and browns. Hill crept closer, hoping it might be a cottonee or even a whimsicott. His stomach fell when he recognized the first splash of dried blood. It formed a sticky film over the grass, a massive patch of rusty red covering the vibrant green. At the center of the gore was what first caught his eye, a human skeleton, sunlight glinted off the exposed teeth. It still wore tattered clothing, but its skull was still free to share its wicked grin with the world. Hill approached cautiously, keeping an eye open for any movement. As he got closer to inspect the remains he noticed some unusual details. The clothes were brittle and bleached from sunlight, and what blood stained them had long since turned black and crusty. It wasn't unheard for pokémon to pick apart a body in only a few days, but this person had clearly been dead for some time. _'Too long for the fresh blood to be theirs'_ , Hill suddenly realized.

He pushed up from his crouch to take a blind leap backward, just barely dodging the assault from the trees. Thousands of translucent glass-like needles flew from the branches overhead. They hit the ground where he just been standing, burying themselves deep into the ground and shattering against the aged skeleton. Hill stood and looked to the trees to see his assailants, their leafy cover shredded by the attack. Dozens of venipede covered the branches, angrily chattering over their failed trap. Hill heard sounds coming from the vegetation surrounding him, snapping branches and rustling leaves. Two whirlipedes burst from the plant-life directly towards him. One knee high bug hit Hill at the ankle knocking the leg out from under him to create a graceless pirouette before falling on his backside. The other raced towards Pondow, but Memo was quick to move in front of his legless companion. The rolling insect crashed into him and pushed him back several feet as the fire-type grounded it to a halt. All momentum gone, he lifted the bug overhead and threw it into a nearby tree with a wet sounding crunch. Memo breathed a torrent of flame, roasting the remaining whirlipede while Brighteyes ran to Hill. She cast an ethereal glow over his leg and it proved enough to soothe his aching shin so that could stand, but more crashing sounds came from the trees.

Hill quickly drew two pokeballs and tried to withdraw Memo and Pondow just as a fully grown scolipede appeared from the thick greenery. He was disrupted when Brighteyes shoved him with a shoulder, pushing him out of the way. Another glow engulfed Hill, brighter this time, and he felt a rush of energy and vitality enter him. Nothing hurt anymore as he quickly regained his feet. Brighteyes looked relieved at his recovery, only to slump to her knees in exhaustion.

Hill could only watch as his pokemon was run through by the eight foot tall insect. The pronged horns sprung from her chest and the audino's eyes went dim. Hill stood frozen as the scolipede loosed a warbled cry and thrashed its head around, sending Brighteyes' blood out in a gory radius. It tossed the corpse to the crowd of encroaching venipede, who quickly descended upon the meal.

Hill stood dumb unable to turn away from watching his friend be picked apart in a matter of seconds. He broke from his stupor when the scolipede repeated its horrible trumpeting sound and stomped at the ground. Anger flooded into Hill and he glared at the scolipede with hatred. He wanted to kill it. He wanted to pound it into a goop. He wanted to set fire to this whole forest and kill this entire vicious species. Instead, he reigned in his rage. Maintaining his death glare with the murderous insect, he returned his remaining pokemon and reached into the bag at his side. He knew this creature was too strong, too fast, too impossible a challenge at his current level, and Brighteyes hadn't died just so he would immediately follow her. Finding what he was looking for he palmed the item and stood ready. The scolipede reared up and released its unnatural call and charged him. Hill stood ready, waiting until it was just, the right, distance…

Moments before the bug-type speared him Hill dove to the side. As he did he let go of the item in his hand, leaving it hanging in air to collide with the beast's skull. The can of repel exploded upon impact, its pressurized contents covering the bug entirely. Repel's scent compels most pokémon to avoid it, and it reeks special havoc on bug-types. Its senses completely overwhelmed the scolipede was unable to detect Hill. It thrashed around in panic, crashing its massive form against trees disrupting their inhabitants. Hill turned to run but didn't make it far before the familiar sound of scuttling insects came to his ears. While their leader was occupied the venipede and whirlipede continued to pursue him. Hill turned and ran for his nearest estimation of a road.

He pumped his legs desperately to run through the thick leaf cover that swallowed each footstep. He could feel the thud of impact as needles hit his backpack, but adrenaline masked their sting as their pierced his arms and legs. The ground began to even out, but his limbs felt heavy. He escaped the brush of the forest to find one of the flat dirt roads trainers use. To his horror, the sound of insects continued behind him. He ran on, screaming to anyone who could hear to flee as well. He escaped the forest to see Nacrene in the distance. He ran even farther until his limp legs left him to plodding along slowly. Each step became a struggle as the numbness overtook him. He stumbled and fell to the ground in a crash. His pokeballs, which he had cupped in a single numb hand, flew from his grasp and popped open as they struck the ground.

Memo noticed his condition and set off towards town on all fours. Pondow looked at the oncoming wave of bugs, which were being slowed by attempts from other trainers. The tadpole pokemon looked around till he located the pond that had been his home. He rolled away and sank into its depths. Hill watched this in shock. _'Have I been abandoned?_ ' his beleaguered brain wondered. His worries were soon forgotten as Pondow leapt out of the pond, followed by dozens and dozens of his fellow tympole which followed him to the forests edge. Realizing with horror what was about to happen, Hill yelled for the trainers to get back. Some looked skeptical before noticing the wave of water types approaching. Everyone cleared out as the tympole formed rows. At once, they all opened their mouths.

The concussive wave of sound that occurred from a hundred different round attacks was awe inspiring. The venipede that were closest were pulverized into messy bits as it hit them. Leaves were stripped from trees moments before the plants were uprooted from the ground. Flagstones in the street were turned to rubble. The wooden sign welcoming visitors to the park was battered from all sides as if being struck by hammers. Clouds dispersed overhead. Any pokemon that survived the initial onslaught were flung into the sky, leaving only a single form standing against the attack. The scolipede moved forward with heavy steps fighting the pressure of the sound. It crouched low and plunged its pincers into the ground, pinning itself in place before taking a step. Slowly it pushed forward, occasionally losing ground, but constantly moving. It grew dreadfully close and Hill felt panic as it turned its vengeful gaze on him. A river stone flew from the crowd of onlookers. Small, but worn smooth it arced through the air until it passed the invisible barrier where the sound started. Instantly the projectile was caught in the flow and rocketed forward to scream past the scolipede, missing it entirely. But others soon followed, several people taking up whatever they could find to throw at the titanic insect. The first shot struck the bug ripping off one of its horns. The scolipede reared up in pain and was forced backwards as it lost its grip on the pavement. More stones and litter pelted the beast, each one either tearing through or imbedding deep into its body. A foreleg was hit and torn off, allowing the bug to be forced backwards, tumbling and rolling over itself roughly. It was last seen crashing into the canopy of trees, leaving behind most of its innards.

Satisfied, Pondow ceased the attack and dismissed his fellow tympole to return to their home. All made it back to the pond, not a single one lost to an ambitious predator. The alpha tympole rolled his gelatinous body to return to the side of his trainer. Pondow leaned against Hill's side and hummed softly. Moments later Memo was there as well, followed by a group of humans in uniform.

Hill noticed for the first time his injuries. He had lost his right shoe at some point, leaving him with a worn sock full of thorns, brambles, and the slight moisture of blood. More distressing were the several clear needles that had perforated his skin. The poison from one isn't enough to harm a human, but he must've had dozens in him, not even counting the hair like scratched from glancing hits. As the adrenaline faded his pain became clear. Near the base of his neck was the most horrible, and it seemed to be worsening. He reached towards the area and removed some foreign weight, his lifeless fingers unable to tell him any more than that. Pulling it off he found it to be a venipede, its mandible still red and moist from his blood. Hill screamed and made his best attempt to toss the bug away. The bug-type bounced on the ground where he threw it, only to recover and again race towards him. Hill frantically felt around, not taking his eyes off the approaching pokémon, when he felt a sturdy object under his palm. He hefted the item in one hand a slammed it down on the creature, expecting a messy splatter. His weakened muscles failed him as he didn't smash the offending insect, but instead there was a flash of red light followed by a solid click as the pokeball sucked in its new occupant. Hill groaned in exasperation and fell back, enjoying the tingling numbness taking control of his body.

* * *

Hours later, Hill sat comfortably in a hospital bed. He was leafing through a worn paperback that he had rented from the local library/museum/gym. Croux and Bea sat silently in guest chairs, Croux simmering and Bea writing in notebook. They were waiting for Hill to be discharged. Nacrene had plenty of antidotes on hand, considering their vicinity to a forest of venomous insects, and his cuts and scrapes only needed bandages. The one exception was the stitches along his back, where a certain bug had gnawed away a portion of flesh.

The tense peace was interrupted by two men entering the room. One wore the red uniform of the PokeRangers and the other was an obese man in a suit. The heavy man claimed the last chair in the room, settling down with a groan, before turning to regard Hill and pulling a roll of papers from his coat pocket.

"Mr. Black, I am agent Richards. My colleague here is Ranger Collins. We've been made aware of your unusual encounter and would like to hear your side of the story."

Hill put down his book and shared the event as best he could remember. When he finished the ranger was the first to speak.

"They had a trap set up?" He sounded incredulous.

"Unless you think they mobilized hundreds of venipede to ambush me, while concealed, at a moment's notice," Hill responded dryly.

The two men shared a look before the agent thumbed through some of his papers and handed them to the ranger, who passed one to each teen in the room. "We need to discuss some dangerous information, which all of you are sadly involved in. Even you two," he said with a look towards Croux and Bea. "However, this information is not ready to be made public at this moment. I'm afraid we will require your agreement to not share it with anyone else."

Skimming over the form it seemed to be a non-disclosure agreement. Most pressing was the bold warning at the bottom that threatened jail time if they fail to follow the agreement.

"Aren't we too young for a legally binding contract?" Bea asked.

"There are special considerations for trainers. Trust me that you will be held responsible regardless of age."

Hill immediately signed and returned to document. Croux and Bea hesitated longer, but eventually signed as well. The obese man looked over the forms to confirm they were filled out correctly, then nodded and began speaking.

"In recent weeks numerous people have gone missing in Pinwheel forest."

"Including two of my rangers," Collins interjected.

"Why haven't you closed it to the public?" Croux asked.

"That is the plan. Your friend managed to slip in just before we implemented those orders."

"So you think the venipede have been killing them?"

"You're average scolipede weighs around a thousand pounds. Even a small one requires large amounts of food to sustain itself," Richards explained.

"More food than is available in Pinwheel forest," the ranger added.

Bea grimaced, "So the venipede have been killing humans to eat them?"

"Is that why the other species were so sparse?" Hill asked

Richards' face turned sour, "No. We think the populations of wild pokemon are being depleted by humans."

Croux grew animated, "It's Team Plasma, isn't it? We caught them capturing massive amounts of pokemon inside Wellspring Cave."

The agent nodded, "We believe so, yes. That event is why I said you two were involved."

Ranger Collins spoke up, "Team Plasma members have been seen entering the forest multiple times carrying a sack of pokeballs. They claimed to be releasing pokemon that had been recovered from trainers."

"What does this have to do with the Scolipede attack?" Bea questioned.

Croux beat the men to the explanation, "How would you react if a force came into your home and abducted a large portion of its inhabitants. And you knew they would be coming back?"

Bea looked downcast, "I would strengthen my resources to prevent it from happening again…"

Agent Richards nodded, "Exactly. All over the country wild pokemon have been growing more aggressive as they feel threatened."

Hill and Bea looked at one another, remembering the musharna trying to kill them.

"So what is Plasma doing with all these pokemon?" Hill asked.

"We don't know," Richards replied, "But I'd bet good money that it won't be pleasant."

"We're working to restrict them now," Collins added, "But it may already be too late."

"Why are you sharing this with us?" Croux asked,"It sounds like you guys already have all the answers."

The agent rose from his chair with a grunt, "You're a smart kid, Mr. DeCroux. I'm sure you would have pieced this together yourself eventually. By sharing with you we establish a working relationship." He waved the forms they had signed with grin, "Not to mention getting you to promise your silence."

The teens all scowled at learning they had been tricked.

The men approached the door, "Don't be that way. We can't have a couple kids spouting off some vital information to the enemy," Richards said, "I'm serious about working together. If you learn anything new, I hope you'll come to us with it."

The men left, leaving the three to contemplate what they said. After a minute Croux stood up and headed for the door.

"You're leaving?" Hill asked.

"I need time to think and be alone," his voice turned icy as he glared at Hill, "Something I'm sure can understand."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Hill was thrown off by his tone.

Croux spun around to face the bed-ridden teen, "What does it mean? It means that this is the second goddamn time you decided to go it alone and almost killing yourself! Not to mention making plans without consulting us! Or staying behind while we pursue dangerous people! We're supposed to be doing this as a group, damn it! How am I supposed to explain to your mom that you died while I was sitting in a hotel room? How can I continue on this journey knowing my best friend is gone?"

He looked close to tears as he finished his tirade. Hill looked shocked, unsure how to respond. Croux shook his head and stormed out of the room. Bea gave an apologetic glance to Hill and followed after the emotional boy.

Hill sat in silence thinking over what had been said. He immediately knew that Croux was right. Every time Hill thought he understood the risk of this journey, he would follow that up by taking a stupid risk. He was still considering how to approach apologizing when there was a knock on his door. A woman in scrubs entered carrying a packet of papers and bag.

"Alright, Mr. Black, you're all set to go. Here are your discharge paperwork," she handed him the papers, "They would like to see you again in two weeks to look at your stitches. And here are your pokemon, the pokecenter sent them over after they were looked over."

She dumped out the bag and three pokeballs bounced on the mattress next to him. Hill stared at them, or at least at the newest one. He had almost forgotten about the capture. The capture and the loss of one of his team. The idea of keeping one of the pokemon that had killed Brighteyes made his stomach turn.

"Something wrong?" the woman asked.

"No, I… just," Hill sighed and picked up the offending ball, "I guess I just need to drop this one off at a donation center, or something."

Understanding shone in her eyes, "Is that the one that took a bite out of you?"

"Well, yes, but that isn't the problem. The issue is that I should have _four_ balls here."

She nodded, "Lost one, huh? And it feels like you're harboring a killer?"

"Kinda, yeah…"

The woman pulled a chair close and sat down. "Let me show you something." She took the packet of papers back from him and leafed through them. "For obvious reasons we can't allow super threatening pokemon to enter the hospital. Even if it's the best behaved creature alive, it doesn't change the fact that it would a disaster if a trainer accidently releases an onix on the 4th floor. So all pokemon to make it past security require a personality tests of sort, which the pokecenter would've done before delivering them."

She found what she was looking for and handed it back to him. It was titled 'Pokemon Behavioral Evaluation' and listed each of his pokemon.

 **Pignite** – Protective and loyal, but intelligent and understanding. Deemed not a threat providing trainer is cognitive enough to issue commands.

 **Tympole** – Depressed and unresponsive. Not a threat unless provoked.

 **Venipede** – Highly affectionate and energetic. Not aggressive but could be potentially destructive with its erratic behavior.

"My profession is more about human biology, but I still know a bit about pokemon," the nurse began. "Venipede, like many insects, can be easily manipulated by certain chemicals and pheromones. That scolipede that you killed was undoubtedly issuing orders for his lesser to act aggressive. Does that behavior profile sound anything like the pokemon you caught?"

"No," Hill admitted.

"Then that means the 'anger' pheromones are probably out of her system, and your left with a venipede that sounds like an absolute sweetheart. If you're open to advice, I think you should give her a chance. Don't abandon her just because of actions that were out of her control."

Hill read over the profile again, weighing the words. He reached into his pack and pulled out his pokedex to scan the ball. The nurse smiled and rose from her chair to leave the room.

"Wait!" Hill called. She turned around and he showed her the pokedex screen, "Can I ask your name?"

 ***Nickname***

CELINE

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*Pokedex Entries*

*Venipede – They act as the personal army for any alpha scolipede. Following chemical commands these pokémon will swarm enemies in a sacrificial wave. Fresh kill given to the alpha, these grunts feed mostly on decay. *

*Whirlipede – they typically remain inactive, focusing on developing into adulthood. The very outer shell of their bodies detaches and forms a tight ring. They can then use their legs to propel themselves, like a hamster wheel. *

*Scolipede – having very large mass for a bug, its nutrition requirements are rather high. It uses its crushing weight and corrosive poison to liquefy preys innards. It then pierces the skin and sucks up the pulpy fluid. *


End file.
